Story highlights "I don't think they realize the role that we play," Elizabeth Shackelford told Christiane Amanpour

The American government's ability to "avert disasters" overseas, she said, "is definitely going to be impacted."

(CNN) An American diplomat who resigned in frustration last week has told CNN that she believes the Trump administration is putting American citizens abroad at risk by sidelining the State Department.

"I don't think they realize the role that we play," Elizabeth Shackelford told Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Thursday -- her first since leaving her job at the US Mission to Somalia last week.

The State Department not only helps shape foreign policy, she said, but gets American civilians out of harm's way overseas.

Without the crucial ranks of experienced foreign service officers -- who are increasingly growing disillusioned with President Donald Trump's distrust in diplomacy -- the American government's ability to "avert disasters" overseas, she said, "is definitely going to be impacted."

Shackelford, who served in South Sudan, Kenya and Poland, was considered by many as a rising star at the State Department.

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