A group of more than 200 former ambassadors, national security officials, and senior diplomats has recently signed an open letter titled “The Assault on American Democracy: A Call to Action.” Many of these individuals are retired but hold decades of experience. In the letter, they warn of, quote, “grave danger.”
The letter states, quote, “The challenge comes from within as President Trump and his administration have assaulted the pillars of our democracy here at home and our strength around the world.”
Throughout this letter, the former public servants condemn what they describe as the dismantling of democratic norms under President Trump. They also call out attacks on free speech and the judiciary, as well as the corrosion of U.S. alliances and global credibility. The signatories urge institutions and leaders on both sides of the aisle to take respective actions to preserve democracy. They call on the general public to quote, “speak out and mobilize.”
Here at Northwestern, one of the letter’s signatories is Ambassador in Residence Ian Kelly, a retired foreign service officer who last served as the U.S. ambassador to Georgia under the Obama administration. He now teaches at Northwestern under the International Studies Program.
I sat down with him to talk about why he’s signed the letter, what his biggest concerns are, and more.
MICAH SANDY: So first off, thank you so much for being open to this interview. The first question: Why did you decide to sign this letter and was there a tipping point for you?
IAN KELLY: I think that we do have to, as the letter says, speak out about the erosion of the various institutions established by our Constitution. And of course, the overall effect of the first three months of the, of the Trump presidency has been for the executive branch to gather more and more executive power towards itself, which, of course, is antithetical to the idea of our republic.
SANDY: And how did your experience as an ambassador shaped that decision?
KELLY: I have been particularly concerned about the very dramatic, almost 180-degree turn in our attitude towards our alliances, in particular.
Normally when you do things like fundamentally change the orientation of our foreign policy, you bring in Congress. It was completely ignored in this decision. And then there’s the virtual elimination of a number of foreign policy agencies … most prominently USAID, but also other institutions that were established by Congress.
SANDY: As you described just now. It’s very different from any presidency currently right now.
So to you and those who signed the letter, what’s the significance of so many former diplomats and national security officers – I counted, 203, unless I’m mistaken – is there any previous open letter similar to this one that came before?
KELLY: There have been these kinds of letters and I’ve signed, a few of them when it came to specific foreign policy issues. This is a bit different. I mean, this is about not an external threat. This is about turning the United States through a lack of a political process, turning the United States into a different country, basically. And so we wanted to point out how turning us into a different country has national security implications.
One is, of course, the growing lack of trust in our reliability by our allies, the kind of signals that we’re sending to predatory powers.
I’m not saying that we’ve turned into a, an authoritarian regime. But as the letter says, we have to speak out about these tendencies or we will lose what we once had.
SANDY: And along with the call for action, the letter describes a grave danger to America’s moral foundation and calls Trump’s actions “authoritarian.”
So why do you think this language is important for your readers and for anyone else?
KELLY: The American people have to pay attention to what the consequences can be – intimidating judges. The real bedrock of our, of our constitutional republic is an independent judiciary. And by intimidating, even arresting judges, you are undermining that co-equal branch of government.
If this continues, we will not have a republic.
SANDY: And right now, we live in a time of heavy polarization in the United States. How do you think this letter and any similar actions that come from it or associated with it that may arise, will get through to those who still side with President Trump and who might call it alarmist or reduce it to partisan rhetoric?
KELLY: I’m hoping that as time goes by, there will be more voices speaking up. I don’t know if there’s going to be a tipping point. I suspect that it will come as the president’s approval numbers go down.
They really won’t go down until people see a direct effect on them. And that would be mostly economic, I think. I think that this tariff war that we’ve embarked on could be that tipping point.
SANDY: Circling back to Northwestern, to education, since that was another important facet of the letter. Not specifically northwestern, but education and educational institutions.
What relevance do you think this letter and its wordings have for students here at this time, taking into account the current situation with research, federal funding and the sharp 180 we just saw with how student visas were revoked but then given back.
KELLY: That is an example of how speaking out can have an impact. I mean, there was, I think, quite a bit of pushback from universities and from voters when it comes to going after international students in particular, for no other reason than exercising their First Amendment rights.
I think that there’s going to be a big battle over federal money for universities. I’m hoping that it doesn’t lead to real harm to universities, which would be cutting off or greatly diminishing funding of federal research across the board. Or taking away universities’ tax-free status. Those would be very, very destructive, and I can’t imagine that Congress would do it.
But it is important to write your representatives.
SANDY: Another aspect of being a professor is, students likely come to you with concerns, or they seek guidance that goes beyond the classroom. And have those conversations changed since President Trump returned to office?
KELLY: People questioning whether the Foreign Service will continue as a body of nonpartisan experts and professionals and I have to be honest with them.
And another thing that is unprecedented about this administration is, normally about 50 to 70% of the ambassadorial nominations are for career officers. So far this year, Donald Trump has nominated or confirmation in the Senate 51 ambassadors. There are zero career officers who are, been, named as ambassadors. And this is where, again, the Senate has to do something about this.
SANDY: And then turning to the future.
Critics from any side may argue that letters like these don’t change much. What would success look like for you and the other signatories of this letter?
KELLY: I’ve sent at least one message per week to my elected representatives, pointing out how, you know, Congress needs to have a say in these radical changes in our security orientation toward the world and toward foreign policy.
But when you have hundreds of senior, former senior national security officials, you do get some traction in the media. And the whole point of this is, keep speaking out. One person can’t change the world, but millions of people can.
SANDY: And on that similar note. If there’s one message from this letter that you would want every American to hear, but especially young people such as the students you teach, what would it be?
KELLY: Unless we stand up and protest any kind of erosion of those principles, we’re going to lose what we have. Most people have heard the famous quote of Ben Franklin coming out of the Constitutional Convention.
They asked him as he was coming out, “What did you accomplish here? What did you create here?”
And he said, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
So even back in 1787, the founders recognized that this is a fragile thing that we’ve created. This idea of separation of powers and the importance of due process. These are the kind of rights that we have that can be easily taken away.
And that’s why this letter says we need to stand up and speak out.
SANDY: For WNUR News, I’m Micah Sandy.
