Stephanie T. Williams
@stephanietwilliams.bsky.social
Global nomad. Former U.S. and UN diplomat, served in Libya, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait & Pakistan. Grew up in India, Afghanistan & Pakistan.
In a devastating survey of current employees conducted by the State Department’s union: 86% say changes in the workplace since January have affected their ability to advance U.S. diplomatic priorities; 98% report poor morale. Nearly 1 in 3 are considering leaving the Service. Generational damage.
You’ve seen the headlines, but the full picture is even more alarming.
New data reveals just how severe the crisis inside the diplomatic workforce has become.
Our grim findings are drawn from the voices of more than 2,000 active-duty Foreign Service members.
Read it: afsa.org/at-the-break...
New data reveals just how severe the crisis inside the diplomatic workforce has become.
Our grim findings are drawn from the voices of more than 2,000 active-duty Foreign Service members.
Read it: afsa.org/at-the-break...
At the Breaking Point: The State of the U.S. Foreign Service in 2025 — A Report by the American Foreign Service Association
America’s global leadership depends on a strong, professional diplomatic workforce. But in 2025, the U.S. Foreign Service faces an unprecedented crisis. Personnel losses, political interference, and t...
afsa.org
December 4, 2025 at 5:53 PM
In a devastating survey of current employees conducted by the State Department’s union: 86% say changes in the workplace since January have affected their ability to advance U.S. diplomatic priorities; 98% report poor morale. Nearly 1 in 3 are considering leaving the Service. Generational damage.
Jeff Feltman’s new piece for @brookings.edu on the tragedy in Sudan in advance of the MbS visit to Washington.
www.brookings.edu/articles/sud...
www.brookings.edu/articles/sud...
Sudan's deadly divide: The RSF and SAF's reign of terror | Brookings
While methods vary, both RSF and SAF forces demonstrate disdain for international humanitarian law and contempt for Sudan’s citizens.
www.brookings.edu
November 13, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Jeff Feltman’s new piece for @brookings.edu on the tragedy in Sudan in advance of the MbS visit to Washington.
www.brookings.edu/articles/sud...
www.brookings.edu/articles/sud...
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
Trump has no idea what’s going on. He’s turned the WH into a gilded Assisted Living Facility with court jesters and a ballroom.
November 4, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Trump has no idea what’s going on. He’s turned the WH into a gilded Assisted Living Facility with court jesters and a ballroom.
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
#OTD in 1967, Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as the first Black Supreme Court justice. His work as a civil rights lawyer, including in Brown v. Board of Education, reshaped America’s path toward equality. #TheMarchContinues
August 30, 2025 at 4:50 PM
#OTD in 1967, Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as the first Black Supreme Court justice. His work as a civil rights lawyer, including in Brown v. Board of Education, reshaped America’s path toward equality. #TheMarchContinues
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya underscore that regime change does not result in political stability. "Libya Since Qaddafi: Chaos and the Search for Peace" by @stephanietwilliams.bsky.social documents this reality and the tremendous difficulties in restoring social order to fractured nations.
July 2, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya underscore that regime change does not result in political stability. "Libya Since Qaddafi: Chaos and the Search for Peace" by @stephanietwilliams.bsky.social documents this reality and the tremendous difficulties in restoring social order to fractured nations.
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
"Do you want America to be at war with Iran?"
No: 85%
Yes: 5%
YouGov / June 22, 2025
No: 85%
Yes: 5%
YouGov / June 22, 2025
June 23, 2025 at 2:13 AM
"Do you want America to be at war with Iran?"
No: 85%
Yes: 5%
YouGov / June 22, 2025
No: 85%
Yes: 5%
YouGov / June 22, 2025
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
So Trump lied when he said “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated”? No way? He lied?
NEW: The US conducted strikes targeting three nuclear facilities w/ bunker-buster bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles. The US said all three sites sustained “extreme damage.” Israeli officials echoed that statement, though they added the Fordow facility was “not destroyed.” isw.pub/IranSpecialR...
June 23, 2025 at 1:03 AM
So Trump lied when he said “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated”? No way? He lied?
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
ICE looking more and more like the American Gestpo.
June 19, 2025 at 4:22 PM
ICE looking more and more like the American Gestpo.
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
A top staffer to Sen. Tina Smith emailed Sen. Mike Lee’s top staffers on Monday about “how much additional pain you’ve caused on an unspeakably horrific weekend”
Full emails below
Full emails below
June 16, 2025 at 10:44 PM
A top staffer to Sen. Tina Smith emailed Sen. Mike Lee’s top staffers on Monday about “how much additional pain you’ve caused on an unspeakably horrific weekend”
Full emails below
Full emails below
TY to the NYT for unmasking this crude attack on free speech and the academy. Obvs that Heritage is directly hooked into the Trump regime on this & other attempts to crush our democracy. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/18/u...
The Group Behind Project 2025 Has a Plan to Crush the Pro-Palestinian Movement
www.nytimes.com
May 18, 2025 at 6:46 PM
TY to the NYT for unmasking this crude attack on free speech and the academy. Obvs that Heritage is directly hooked into the Trump regime on this & other attempts to crush our democracy. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/18/u...
If true, a deeply immoral and shameful negotiation aimed at ethnically cleansing Palestinians from their homeland. Highly unlikely even a single Palestinian was consulted. Utter madness.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
Trump administration working on plan to move 1 million Palestinians to Libya
Details are murky and no final agreement has been reached, but the plan is under serious enough consideration that the administration has discussed it with Libyan leadership.
www.nbcnews.com
May 17, 2025 at 7:15 AM
If true, a deeply immoral and shameful negotiation aimed at ethnically cleansing Palestinians from their homeland. Highly unlikely even a single Palestinian was consulted. Utter madness.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
“I cannot stand by while a country is invaded, a democracy bombarded, & children killed with impunity. I believe that the only way to secure U.S. interests is to stand up for democracies & to stand against autocrats.” www.freep.com/story/opinio...
I was U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. I resigned because of Trump's foreign policy. | Opinion
I served in our country's foreign service for three decades. The Trump administration's Ukraine policy will make the U.S. less safe.
www.freep.com
May 17, 2025 at 6:59 AM
“I cannot stand by while a country is invaded, a democracy bombarded, & children killed with impunity. I believe that the only way to secure U.S. interests is to stand up for democracies & to stand against autocrats.” www.freep.com/story/opinio...
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
Expelling Black and Brown people. Importing the White descendants of the people who invented Apartheid. Via a chartered aircraft, of all things. MAGA is all about White Nationalism. They prove it every day.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt talks about white South African refugees that are coming to the United States next week:
"This group in South Africa has faced racial persecution."
🙄
"This group in South Africa has faced racial persecution."
🙄
May 10, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Expelling Black and Brown people. Importing the White descendants of the people who invented Apartheid. Via a chartered aircraft, of all things. MAGA is all about White Nationalism. They prove it every day.
If true, this is an obscenely sick decision. The U.S. State Department’s own Human Rights Report and Trafficking in Persons Report have documented the absolutely horrific conditions in detention centers and prisons all across Libya. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/u...
Trump Administration Plans to Send Migrants to Libya on a Military Flight
www.nytimes.com
May 7, 2025 at 6:47 AM
If true, this is an obscenely sick decision. The U.S. State Department’s own Human Rights Report and Trafficking in Persons Report have documented the absolutely horrific conditions in detention centers and prisons all across Libya. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/u...
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
Trump's executive order to gut funding for public media (including NPR and PBS) will cut off news sources for millions. That’s exactly what he wants: to exert even more control over the information that the public receives – or doesn’t even receive at all.
It’s a hallmark of dictatorship.
It’s a hallmark of dictatorship.
May 2, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Trump's executive order to gut funding for public media (including NPR and PBS) will cut off news sources for millions. That’s exactly what he wants: to exert even more control over the information that the public receives – or doesn’t even receive at all.
It’s a hallmark of dictatorship.
It’s a hallmark of dictatorship.
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
According to Kash Patel’s own financial disclosure statement, he pocketed $25,000 from a production company operated by a filmmaker associated with a Kremlin-subsidized propaganda project, a pro-Putin oligarch, and a pro-Kremlin disinformation agent.
@davidcorn.bsky.social's NEW video explains:
@davidcorn.bsky.social's NEW video explains:
The Curious Case of Kash Patel's $25,000
YouTube video by Mother Jones
youtu.be
April 28, 2025 at 6:22 PM
According to Kash Patel’s own financial disclosure statement, he pocketed $25,000 from a production company operated by a filmmaker associated with a Kremlin-subsidized propaganda project, a pro-Putin oligarch, and a pro-Kremlin disinformation agent.
@davidcorn.bsky.social's NEW video explains:
@davidcorn.bsky.social's NEW video explains:
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
Oligarchy (noun):
A government of and by a few at the top, who exercise power for their own benefit. Their power and wealth increase as they make laws that favor themselves, manipulate financial markets, and create monopolies that put more wealth into their pockets.
A government of and by a few at the top, who exercise power for their own benefit. Their power and wealth increase as they make laws that favor themselves, manipulate financial markets, and create monopolies that put more wealth into their pockets.
April 26, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Oligarchy (noun):
A government of and by a few at the top, who exercise power for their own benefit. Their power and wealth increase as they make laws that favor themselves, manipulate financial markets, and create monopolies that put more wealth into their pockets.
A government of and by a few at the top, who exercise power for their own benefit. Their power and wealth increase as they make laws that favor themselves, manipulate financial markets, and create monopolies that put more wealth into their pockets.
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."
—Louis Brandeis
—Louis Brandeis
April 19, 2025 at 7:01 PM
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."
—Louis Brandeis
—Louis Brandeis
Shame on Secretary Rubio and the Trump administration for enabling this tragedy. A shocking and repellent abandonment of American values. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/w...
As Famine Rages in Sudan, U.S. Aid Remains Scarce
The stark consequences of the rollback are evident in few places as clearly as in Sudan, where a brutal civil war has combined with a staggering humanitarian catastrophe.
www.nytimes.com
April 19, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Shame on Secretary Rubio and the Trump administration for enabling this tragedy. A shocking and repellent abandonment of American values. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/w...
🎯🎯 Important to note: "...Mr. Trump, who is himself a convicted felon, has gone so far as to say that he is contemplating sending violent criminals who are American citizens to be locked up in El Salvador, where prisons are not governed by minimal U.S. standards." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/u...
In Fight Over Abrego Garcia’s Deportation, Trump Seeks to Shift the Focus
The president is trying to rewrite the narrative of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation as a dispute about illegal immigration rather than the rule of law.
www.nytimes.com
April 19, 2025 at 10:25 AM
🎯🎯 Important to note: "...Mr. Trump, who is himself a convicted felon, has gone so far as to say that he is contemplating sending violent criminals who are American citizens to be locked up in El Salvador, where prisons are not governed by minimal U.S. standards." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/u...
On the shelves today in the UK! Forward by Dr. Ghassan Salamé and gorgeous cover art by Libyan artist Hiba Shalabi. All of my own proceeds will go to charity.
Publishing Today!📚
Libya Since Qaddafi by @stephanietwilliams.bsky.social is an account of conflict, collapse and innovative approaches to reconstruction in Libya’s challenging post-2011 landscape.
‘An important book’ @claudiagazzini.bsky.social
Get 30% off w/code QADDAFI30➡️ tinyurl.com/yms2zkjh
Libya Since Qaddafi by @stephanietwilliams.bsky.social is an account of conflict, collapse and innovative approaches to reconstruction in Libya’s challenging post-2011 landscape.
‘An important book’ @claudiagazzini.bsky.social
Get 30% off w/code QADDAFI30➡️ tinyurl.com/yms2zkjh
April 17, 2025 at 3:56 PM
On the shelves today in the UK! Forward by Dr. Ghassan Salamé and gorgeous cover art by Libyan artist Hiba Shalabi. All of my own proceeds will go to charity.
Reposted by Stephanie T. Williams
1/4. On the White House’s theory, if they abduct you, get you on a helicopter, get to international waters, shoot you in the head, and drop your corpse into the ocean, that is legal, because it is the conduct of foreign affairs.
April 15, 2025 at 1:13 AM
1/4. On the White House’s theory, if they abduct you, get you on a helicopter, get to international waters, shoot you in the head, and drop your corpse into the ocean, that is legal, because it is the conduct of foreign affairs.