; (B) hinder the ability of the United States to effectively compete with strategic competitors, such as the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation; and (C) present a clear national security risk to the United States; and (3) if the Department is unable to incentivize officers to accept hard-to-fill positions, the Department should consider directed assignments, particularly for posts in Africa, and other means to more effectively advance the national interests of the United States. (b) Report on development of incentives for hard-to-fill posts Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees on efforts to develop new incentives for hard-to-fill positions at United States diplomatic missions. The report shall include a description of the incentives developed to date and proposals to try to more effectively fill hard-to-fill posts. (c) Study on feasibility of allowing non-Consular Foreign Service officers given directed Consular posts to volunteer for hard-to-fill posts in understaffed regions (1) Study (A) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall conduct a study on— (i) the number of Foreign Service positions vacant for six months or longer at overseas posts, including for consular, political, and economic positions, over the last five years, broken down by region, and a comparison of the proportion of vacancies between regions