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+---
+created: 2025-07-23
+updated: 2025-07-23
+title: State Department
+tags:
+  - organization
+  - government
+  - USA
+  - diplomatic
+description: The United States Department of State is the federal executive department responsible for the nation's foreign policy and international relations.
+---
+
+The [[State Department]] is the federal executive department responsible for the [[United States]]' foreign policy and international relations.
+
+Following the Israeli bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at [[Osirak]] in June 1981, the State Department formally condemned the bombing, stating it "cannot but seriously add to the already tense situation in the area." This public condemnation, however, did not reflect President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s private acceptance of the raid.[^2]
+
+In the context of the *Phenomena* text, the State Department was involved in the U.S. government's response to the [[Moscow Signal]], a microwave beam directed at the [[U.S. Embassy in Moscow]] by the [[Soviet Union]].[^1]
+
+The State Department set up a classified endeavor, or "cytogenic testing program," code-named the Moscow Viral Study, to secretly conduct genetic testing on embassy personnel exposed to the signal. Employees were told they were being tested for a simple viral infection. This program was later terminated due to concerns about the secret testing of employees.[^1]
+
+Despite concerns raised by scientists about the health effects of the Moscow Signal, the State Department publicly downplayed the dangers and funded a study that found "no convincing evidence" of adverse health effects. This stance was controversial, especially given that several U.S. ambassadors who served in Moscow later died of cancer.[^1]
+
+### Footnotes
+[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
+[^2]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991.