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Clinton to Staff: A Busy Year Ahead for Diplomacy
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told her staff in a memo today that the furious pace of international challenges is only going to increase in 2011, as the State Department forges ahead with internal change and a full plate of diplomatic challenges..
“In 2010, we faced challenges on almost every front, and our diplomacy and development efforts [...]
U.S. Diplomats: A Vanishing Species?
The news has recently focused on a rare sight: diplomats — in particular, those in the U.S. Foreign Service. With the death of Richard Holbrooke and the continuing WikiLeaks affair, the American people have heard more about this discreet tribe than they have in many years.
But do diplomats matter?
The career of another recently deceased diplomat, arms control negotiator [...]
The curious life of the US diplomat, uncloaked.
WASHINGTON – A diplomat’s life is not just caviar and coattails. It’s rubbery fish in Brussels, a nauseating revolving restaurant in Kazakhstan and an epic three-day Muslim wedding featuring “stupendous” quantities of booze, a golden pistol, dancing women, the scent of danger and cauldrons of cows boiled whole.
It’s not all receptions and speeches. It’s also the [...]
Diplomatic Cables: The Ties That Bind Foreign Policy
Thanks to WikiLeaks, diplomatic cables have dominated the news this week, revealing what foreign service officers really think about U.S. allies and enemies all around the world.
For decades, diplomatic cables have been the primary means of communication between U.S. embassies abroad and the State Department. Even in the age of e-mail, thousands of diplomatic cables [...]
FPA U Course: Landing a Job in the Foreign Service
Located in New York, the Foreign Policy Association has since 1918 served as a catalyst for developing awareness, understanding of, and providing informed opinions on global issues. Recently launched, the Foreign Policy Association University provides insight and guidance to individuals interested in careers in intelligence, diplomacy and development. They will be holding a [...]
Rangel International Affairs Program Accepting Applications For 2011 Fellowships
The Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program is now accepting applications for its 2011 graduate fellowships.
The program seeks applicants who are interested in pursuing careers as Foreign Service Officers for the U.S. Department of State. The fellowship is open to college undergraduate seniors and recent graduates who want to begin two-year master’s programs in the [...]
With a disability, what is ‘around the world’?
Should medical conditions prevent State Department applicants from joining the Foreign Service if they can’t serve in every single post in the world?
Doering Meyer is functional in Turkish, speaks some Arabic and has lived abroad, where she bolstered a strong interest in Islam and foreign affairs.
Despite that background, when she applied to be a Foreign [...]
Assignment: “Federal Republic of the Hill”
State Department Foreign Service Officer Dorothy Shea just wrapped up a year’s assignment as a Pearson Fellow to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She took the time to pen some advice for incoming diplomats seeking to mix with the natives in the Federal Republic of the Hill:
Develop Language Skills: “As with any foreign posting, the State [...]
FSI Courses Are Now Available Online – For FREE
The U.S. Foreign Service Institute teaches foreign languages to government diplomats and personnel for duties abroad—and its courses are now available online, for free, to anyone interested in honing their language skills. The extensive library of materials include audio, texts, and tests in 41 different languages.
The Foreign Service Institute’s Language Course web site isn’t actually [...]
Language proficiency is Foreign Service’s ‘greatest challenge’
The Washington Post’s Joe Davidson discusses the current language proficiency shortfalls facing the State Department:
Workers from State still meet at that location, presumably for more lofty deliberations than those found in most saloons. The American Foreign Service Association owned the Foreign Service Club, but decided to get out of the restaurant and bar business years [...]
