Professor Jok Madut Jok. (Photo: Courtesy).

NEW YORK, (Eye Radio) – As the United States mulls closing dozens of oversea embassies and consulates including in South Sudan, renowned academic Jok Madut Jok said should Washington proceed with the plan, it would be bad news for South Sudanese and undermine America’s ability to monitor and address negative developments in the country.

An internal State Department document first reported on Tuesday by CNN – indicated that the U.S. is weighing at closing nearly 30 overseas embassies and consulates, as the Trump administration eyes significant changes to its diplomatic presence abroad.

The document also recommends reducing the footprint at the US diplomatic missions in Somalia and Iraq where the US is engaged in counterterrorism efforts, and resizing other diplomatic outposts.

Dr. Jok Madut Jok, Professor of Anthropology at Syracuse University in the United States, expressed concern over reports that the Trump administration is considering the move which, according to him, would negatively affect South Sudan.

He said such a move reflects a broader policy shift by the inward-looking Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in its cost-cutting approach to global engagement.

“I should also add that should this policy come to pass, and the embassies close down in Juba, such an eventuality would be bad for South Sudan in many respects,” he said in an interview with Eye Radio.

“It would mean that the US can no longer bear witness to the many negative developments and challenges in the country, such as famine, disease, violence, and human rights abuses, and other undemocratic practices that the South Sudan government sometimes pursues.”

“It would mean that this is now a true severing of engagement between the two peoples, and the cultural exchanges would simply diminish. The research exchanges would also be lost.”

However, Dr. Jok expressed relief at the vagueness of the document because the White House and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are yet to formally approve the decision.

The draft proposal recommends shutting down 10 embassies and 17 consulates, including those in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, and South Sudan. Under this plan, the responsibilities of the yet-to-be closed embassies would be reassigned to U.S. missions in neighboring countries.

Dr. Jok further questioned the rationale behind the proposed withdrawal of American diplomatic presence from regions grappling with instability and conflict.

He suggested that this move may not be based on comprehensive policy analysis, but rather on the administration’s ideological drive to reduce international commitments and government spending. According to him, the Trump administration may have not viewed South Sudan as a priority due to limited trade relations and minimal commercial interests.

“Perhaps the Trump administration does not really care about these things, as its interests have always been commercial, and since South Sudan does not have much trade with the US, perhaps Washington does not see any utility in continued engagement with Juba.”

“So, this policy might, on the face of it, look detrimental to the relationships, but deep down, Washington is probably convinced that South Sudan does not really present any kind of value that is worth investing in.”

The Trump administration is also eliminating more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAI)’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, according to a separate memo cited by the Associated Press.

On January 20, Trump ordered a 90-day program-by-program review of which foreign assistance programs deserved to continue and which must be eliminated. The funding freeze has stopped thousands of U.S.-funded programs abroad.

The administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is further proposing to cut funding for United Nations peacekeeping missions, citing recent failures in operations across Africa and the Middle East, including in Mali, Lebanon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UN peacekeeping budget finances nine missions across various regions, including Mali, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Abyei, Western Sahara, Cyprus, Kosovo, and the area between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.