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Career Diplomacy: Life and Work in the U.S. Foreign Service | 
 enlarge | Authors: Harry W. Kopp, Charles A. Gillespie
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
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Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 37104
Media: Paperback
Pages: 266
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1589012194
Dewey Decimal Number: 327.73
EAN: 9781589012196
ASIN: 1589012194
Publication Date: October 15, 2008
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Product Description
The U.S. Foreign Service is sometimes derided, often underappreciated, occasionally praised, rarely examined, and almost never understood. And yet whether America's diplomacy succeeds or fails depends to a large extent on its foreign service professionals. "Career Diplomacy" is an insider's guide that examines the foreign service as an institution, a profession, and a career. Harry W. Kopp and Charles A. Gillespie, both of whom had long and distinguished careers in the foreign service, provide a full and well-rounded picture of the organization, its place in history, its strengths and weaknesses, and its role in American foreign affairs.Based on their own experiences and through interviews with over 85 current and former foreign service officials, the authors lay out what to expect in a foreign service career, from the entrance exam through midcareer and into the senior service: how to get in, get around, and get ahead. This book concludes with a stirring chapter on tomorrow's diplomats and the future of the foreign service as an institution. Readers will benefit from several appendices, which include a Department of State organization chart, core precepts of the foreign service, and internet resources. "Career Diplomacy" reveals what America's professional diplomats do and how they do it. It is a rare, first-hand look in to the life and work of this country's professional diplomats, who advance and protect U.S. national security interests around the globe.
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| Customer Reviews:
The Foreign Service, Demystified November 13, 2008
Christopher D. Helmkamp (Falls Church, VA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've had many informal chats with current and retired FSOs and heard many VIPs from the State Department speak about their careers over the past four years (first in Peace Corps and then coordinating conferences on diplomacy and national security here in DC). If I were to put together all of the bits and pieces I've picked up about the interagency process and life as a diplomat along the way, it still wouldn't amount to what I learned reading this book.
The book is very well written, with humor (perhaps the kind only past, current or future public servants will appreciate), concision and breadth that covers everything from the politics of the institution to the future of the career. It's also dead honest: it avoids creating any romantic notion of the foreign service and replaces it with a straightforward account upon which aspiring diplomats can set realistic expectations (or decide to pursue other careers).
If you are considering a career in the foreign service (at the Department of State, USAID, Foreign Commercial Service or Foreign Agricultural Service), or if you are interested in demystifying the structure of the US foreign service, this is a book you must read.
The past, present and future of the Foreign Service November 2, 2008
Deron Aucoin (San Francisco, CA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I first purchased Kopp and Gillespie's book as a citizen considering a career in the Foreign Service. Although it includes plenty of testimony from frontline diplomats making a heroic difference across the world, "Career Diplomacy" is more than a peek into the day to day of Foreign Service Officers (FSOs). It is part history of the service, part employee manual, and part crystal ball.
Already familiar with the typical Fortune 500 career ladder, Kopp and Gillespie detailed for me how a career in the Foreign Service would proceed. Included is everything from how the promotion and tenure process works, to how country assignments are determined, even to the text of the oath every new FSO recites (for me, one of the more inspiring points). The authors also spend time on the future of the Foreign Service: its "transformational" path and the new skills that will be required of its newest diplomats. For a book about an organization in the midst of generational change it is strongest for its contemporary and forward looking detail.
Most importantly for me though, and perhaps for others considering a career in the Foreign Service, "Career Diplomacy" has reminded me that the Foreign Service is more than just expatriate adventures in exotic faraway places. It is, at the end of the day, about serving your country. Something that I have long felt the call to do but have never been sure of where I would best fit. To that end, "Career Diplomacy" answered the right questions that have pushed my status from "considering" to "applying."
Indispensible look at the U.S. Foreign Service October 31, 2008
Robert G. Loftis (Falls Church, Virginia, USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
With all of the talk in the current political campaign about rebuilding America's diplomacy, it is critical that anyone interested in foreign affairs understand one of the essential tools of diplomacy: the men and women of the diplomatic service. This comprehensive but concise book is the best description of the work and life of the Foreign Service that I have read (and I have been in the FS nearly 30 years). It is an honest and unapologetic look at the strengths and weaknesses of the foreign service, crisply written, with voices from across the service. For anyone contemplating a career in diplomacy, this book should be your first stop. For everyone else, this book provides a clear and accessible view of a part of the federal government unfamiliar to most Americans.
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