I’m inclined to agree about the State Department. Foggy Bottom has been broken for as long as I can recall. I remember Dwight Eisenhower trying to straighten it out—to no avail.
Especially malignant are the so-called Arabists in the State Department. I think most of them are paid off by the Saudis, and retire with generous allowances from that country.
I think they need to get rid of everybody there and start over. The time it takes to re-staff the DoS would probably be the best time for improving foriegn relations in our recent history.