Articles, Interviews, Speeches
The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the Ben Franklin Fellowship.
JUNTO Project Event:
Stopping the Next Afghan Terrorist Attack
The Ben Franklin Fellowship, in partnership with the Center for Immigration Studies, hosted a high-level symposium on threats from Afghan migration. The discussion covered:
1) How Biden-era failures created the national security vulnerabilities that enabled the terrorist attack on our National Guard in November, as well as other attempted attacks by Afghan evacuees;
2) Remedial actions the Trump Administration is taking to mitigate the negligence of the Biden administration and protect the American people; and
3) Potential additional reforms that could magnify those efforts to prevent the next attack.
Speakers included:
Representative Andy Biggs, Arizona's 5th district
Andrew Veprek, Assistant Secretary of State for PRM
Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies
James Rogers, Senior Counsel, America First Legal Foundation
Andrew “Art” Arthur, Resident Fellow in Law and Policy, Center for Immigration Studies
Jessica Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies, Center for Immigration Studies
Simon Hankinson, Senior Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation
Articles
-
Revitalizing the Export-Import Bank for Great Power Competition
Tanner J. Gebhart (May 22, 2026)
-
Why I Joined the Ben Franklin Fellowship
Peter Van Buren (May 18, 2026)
-
Empowering Consular Officers to Deny Visas for National Security Reasons
By Civis Legatus, a Consular Professional
-
“Not by Religionists, but by Christians”: The Enduring Call to Faithful Public Service
A Lecture Delivered by Daniel Boehmer at Patrick Henry College (April 22, 2026)
-
"How to 214(b) an H-1B" (How a Consular Officer can find an H1-B applicant ineligible for a visa)
By Civis Legatus, a Consular Professional (May 16, 2026)
-
China | Semiconductors: Swim to the U.S. Reshore
Nathan R. Price (May 11, 2026)
-
The New York Times: BFF Threatens State Department's Woke and Globalist Agenda
The Grey Lady parrots AFSA’s “alarms” about BFF (May 6, 2026)
-
BFF Statement on RIFs
The BFF Board of Directors (May 6, 2026)
-
Iran: From Shaheds to SBOMs
Nathan R. Price (May 4, 2026)
-
The “Double-Dip” Doctrine: How DHS Contracting Cronyism, Afghan Relocation Malfeasance, and Global Engagement Center Failures Betray the American Taxpayer
Mahvash Siddiqui (May 4, 2026)
-
Is It Time to Take a Look at A and G Visas?
By Civis Legatus, a Consular Professional (April 28, 2026)
-
East Asia: RAM Rumbling (NEW)
Nathan R. Price (April 26, 2026)
-
Reddit Post Perfectly Showcases Our Broken Immigration System
By a Foreign Service Officer
-
Why Does AFSA Have Nothing to Say about FP4A?
Phillip Linderman (March 11, 2026)
-
What just happened in Hungary
-
Needles in a Haystack: Using Consular Metrics to Locate High Fidelity Officers
By a Foreign Service Officer
-
The Gulf Alliance Treaty Organization (GATO) -- Energy Security Funding (GESF) Model as a Self-Sustaining NATO-Style Framework
By Brendan Heavey (with input from Ambassador (ret.) Joey Hood)
-
Iran: How did we get here and what comes next? - A Strategic Analysis of the Current Crisis and Possible Post-Regime Scenarios
By Ulysses
-
A Strategy to Respond to the New Sino-Russia Land Grain Corridor (NLGC)
Special Report by the BFF China Working Group
-
Rethinking Commercial Diplomacy: New Strategic Approaches to Russia
Ivan Grek
-
The Caracas Economic Development Zone (CEDZ): A Plan for Rebuilding Rule of Law in Venezuela
Carlos Roa
-
A BFF Organizational Management Proposal List Item
James Mackall
-
Building Lasting Peace and a Strategic Economic Partnership with Nigeria
By: Rob Quiroz, Sterling Tilley, Tibor Nagy, Mahvash Siddiqui, and Piero Tozzi
-
Kenya: Support for Border Security and Trade Facilitation
By Brendan Heavey
-
Africa: Building Economic and Security Partnerships List Item
By Chakotay and Sterling Tilley
-
Southeast Asia: Rebuilding a Peaceful Political-Military Alliance
By Sterling Tilley and Nathan R. Price
-
Vietnam: A Strategic Partner for Peace and Security in Southeast Asia
By Chakotay
-
Vetting of 80,000+ Afghans Brought to America Failed the National Security Test
-
The Benefits of Removing Maduro
-
Remind The Boston Globe that U.S. Ambassadors Represent the President
-
Reembracing the Regional Expert
Richard Pearson
-
Project 2036: Rebuilding the U.S.–Russian People-to-People Relationship in a Post-Putin Era
Brendan Heavey
-
AFSA Must Cease Attacking Its Constituency
By Civis Legatus, A Consular Professional
-
The Greenland Gambit: Red Herring or Poison Pill List Item
-
70,000 Afghans Resettled in the U.S. Without Appropriate Vetting
By Civis Legatus, a Consular Professional
-
Leveraging the Disutility of European Power in Africa
By Sol Galvez
-
Refocusing American Diplomacy on Reindustrialization and Technical Expertise
Adam Hay
-
Peak Oil and Energy Dominance – The IEA Gets it Wrong
-
Every Veteran’s Odyssey
-
Unskilled J1 Programs are Unauthorized, Exploitative, and Promote Illegal Immigration
By Civis Legatus, a Consular Professional
-
State Department Overseas Schools Continue to Promote Woke Ideology
Special Report - October 17, 2025
-
Half of 2016 Student Visa Holders Still in U.S.
A Veteran Visa Adjudicator
-
Advancing Meritocracy in the Era of DEIA
-
The American Human Rights Tradition
The BFF Working Group on Human Rights
-
The Heartbeat Returns: Trump’s Bold Rescue of the Capital – Thank You
Luana Saghieh, D.C. resident
-
Mission First Means Management First
By: A Son of the Commonwealth (and a veteran Foreign Service Officer)
-
The H-1B Invasion: Why the U.S. Must Act to Protect American Jobs, Security, and Prosperity
Mahvash Siddiqui
-
America First Cyber Foreign Policy
The BFF Working Group on Cybersecurity Reports: By Richard Saunders and Alexander Rodriguez
-
The Overlooked Global Stakes of President Trump’s Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Deal
-
France is no U.S. partner in the Middle East
Russell A. Berman and Kiron K. Skinner
-
A Welcome Step Forward: The Department of Labor’s Office of Immigration Policy and the Promise of Coordinated Reform
By Epictetus, A Veteran Consular Officer
-
The DEI Diplomat Super-Heroes No One Asked For
-
Marco Rubio's Quest To Make the State Department Great Again
-
My wife lost her job in the Doge cuts. I still think they were justified.
-
The Carnegie Endowment for the Permanent State
James Carden
-
America Must Secure Its Influence in the Western Hemisphere
Scott Winton
-
Why We Fight: Why the Border Matters
Brendan Heavey
JUNTO Project Event:
AI, Statecraft & the Future of Diplomacy
The Ben Franklin Fellowship (BFF) proudly launched its JUNTO AI, Statecraft & the Future of Diplomacy Speaker Series on July 23 with a high-level panel on one of the most urgent issues facing American diplomacy today: artificial intelligence and the escalating U.S.–China tech rivalry.
Videos
Explore more BFF videos on our YouTube Channel
Former Diplomat Responds to Another Anti-Trump Letter from Colleagues
Restoring Integrity And Security To The Visa Process
Simon Hankinson and Jessica Vaughan
JUNTO Podcast Ep. 9 | Ambassador Michael Gfoeller on American Diplomacy, Great Power Competition
Vice President Vance Speaks at Munich Leaders Conference
Flashback: 2020 Interview with Simon Hankinson, U.S. Consul General in Marseille
Vice President Vance Speaks at Munich Security Conference
Explaining the Demise of USAID
Tammy Bruce
Trump Administration Engages Hamas
Democracy in Poland
Former USAID Official Speaks Out Against Decades-Long Agency Corruption
Anti-Semitism Over the Years
Trump Border and Deportation Policies
Sanctuary City Laws & Immigrations Policies in Washington State
Re-Engaging Russia: When War Ends, Is There a Future for US-Russia Relations?
Marco Rubio Asked Point Blank: 'Do You Trust Putin?
Secretary Marco Rubio