Story highlights Albright has been a strong critic of President Donald Trump and his administration

The State Department spokeswoman has acknowledged a morale problem

Washington (CNN) Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright believes the US is facing a "national security emergency" because of the vacancies and staffing issues at the State Department.

"If the US military were facing a recruitment and retention crisis of this magnitude, few would hesitate to call it a national security emergency," Albright wrote in an op-ed published in The Washington Post on Wednesday night. "Well, that is what we are facing (in the State Department). And while it saddens me to criticize one of my successors, I have to speak out because the stakes are so high."

She said turnover at the State Department is normal, but once people leave, the positions need to be filled, and the Trump administration has left many positions vacant.

"Change within the Foreign Service and the State Department's civil service is not unusual. In fact, the system is designed to bring in fresh blood on a regular basis," she wrote. "There is, however, a big difference between a transfusion and an open wound. There is nothing normal about the current exodus."

Albright, a strong critic of President Donald Trump and his administration, wrote that diplomacy is the "first line of defense."