This October, Georgetown University Press will publish a new “manual” on the Foreign Service titled Career Diplomacy. Authored by former Foreign Service Officer Harry Kopp and the recently-passed Charles “Tony” Gillespie, a former Ambassador to Colombia and Chile, the book serves as an A to Z guide on the Foreign Service and US diplomacy.
Here's some acclaim for the book by Chester Crocker, a former diplomat and professor Georgetown University:
“This book is a gem, a one‚ stop shop for citizens, U.S. officials, foreign diplomats, and prospective American foreign service officers who want to understand how American diplomacy and foreign policy are organized and conducted. This carefully structured and well-written volume features rich and balanced insights into the foreign service, and sheds a clear light on its three core functions of representation, overseas operations, and policy. Essential reading on the culture and institutions of American diplomacy and on the ins and outs of working in a foreign service career.”
Full disclosure: I worked as a research assistant on the book, so I have a particular affection for it. It was actually modeled, in part, off of the Army Officer's Guide, an unofficial publication now in its 49th edition. The authors sought to create a guide that could be useful to both the FS-curious–those who are thinking about joining the Foreign Service or preparing for the foreign service exam, as well as and those already in the FS.
The book is carefully researched and chocked full of interviews with FSOs past and present, a list of the many acronyms used by the FS, and much, much more. The narratives of life in the Green Zone in Iraq, or the window into the history of US diplomacy really makes you appreciate the State Department and its staff, past and present. It is, if I do say, a must-read for anyone seriously considering joining the FS.
Click here for a table of contents. For those interested in placing a pre-order for the book online, click here.
