Journey to Become a Diplomat


Book Description

Prior to beginning a career as a diplomat serving with the United Nations and the European Union, George Cunningham made a trek the length of Africa, crosssing into Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho. As well as describing his trek, the author offers careers advice for those who wish to join the diplomatic service.




Journey to Become a Diplomat


Book Description

Prior to beginning a career as a diplomat serving with the United Nations and the European Union, George Cunningham made a trek the length of Africa, crosssing into Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho. As well as describing his trek, the author offers careers advice for those who wish to join the diplomatic service.




Guide to Careers in World Affairs


Book Description

Designed to help those who are considering a career that enables them to travel or live abroad or to work in an international field, this guide will be especially helpful to college and graduate school students, graduates with advanced degrees, professionals exploring alternative careers, and college-bound high school students, and will also be a useful resource for career counselors, job placement offices, and libraries. Listed are more than 250 sources of employment in international business, banking, finance, international law, journalism, consulting, nonprofit organizations, the United States government, the United Nations, and other international organizations. Each of the listings provides a brief description of the organization, the size of the professional staff, the number of professionals hired in the last year, qualifications for employment, internships where available, application procedures, and address. Also included are introductory essays by outstanding representatives of the different professions described, an annotated bibliography, and a listing of graduate programs. (BZ)




The Magic of Dreams


Book Description

The Magic of Dreams: An American Diplomat's Journey relays the story of a retired American diplomat who served in the U.S. Foreign Service for forty-three years. Eleanor L. Akahloun shares a remarkable personal and professional journey from humble, yet inspiring beginnings in her tightly knit Cape Verdean American community in Massachusetts. Her firsthand account of working with the U.S. State Department provides a peek into her colorful adventures and valuable lessons learned from her travels across all seven continents. This book is an affirmation that dreams are magical, that there is beauty amidst challenges in chasing them. The memoir is written in a question-and-answer format, with a perfect blend of wit, intrigue, and light humor. The Magic of Dreams: An American Diplomats Journey is a fascinating read that will leave the readers inspired. Fascinating Story about a Remarkable Woman, September 13, 2015 By M. E. Norris I thoroughly enjoyed reading Eleanor (Penny) Lopes Akahloun's memoir. It is a fascinating story about a remarkable woman. Ms. Akahloun, a Cape Verdean American, devoted 43 years of her life to serve as a career diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service. She joined the Foreign Service at a time when the institution lacked diversity among its diplomatic corp. She overcame tremendous odds through perseverance, hard work, and a positive outlook-- characteristics which would help her tackle challenges throughout her life. Ms. Akahloun is someone who believes that we all have the capacity to enjoy life to the fullest. Her story is inspiring without being corny or unreal. Anyone who reads her book will take heart, no matter what their race, creed, gender, or age. The format of the book is akin to a long interview. The author begins by relating her family background, including the astounding story of how her grandfather journeyed to America from Cape Verde. She also tells us about her parents, remarkable individuals who worked and loved hard, providing the author with a nurturing and disciplined environment. Most of the rest of her book is about her life and adventures in the various countries in which she lived and served. These included Morocco (where she met her husband), Uruguay, Kenya, and China. The author intersperses the story of her life with interesting information on the political and economic situation of the country in which she was posted as well as the U.S. foreign policy goals in the country. This makes for an enriching history lesson without bogging readers down in too much detail. I hope that many people will read Ms. Akahloun's story and will be as strengthened and nourished as I was in reading it.




Lessons from a Diplomatic Life


Book Description

In his new book, Lessons from a Diplomatic Life: Watching Flowers from Horseback, retired State Department official and career diplomat Marshall P. Adair recounts and reflects on his time in the US Foreign Service. The story of his assignments throughout the world reveals important details about significant foreign policy issues and historic events, including Bosnia, American policy toward Tibet, the 1988 Burmese uprising, and the foundations of the current US-China relationship. It provides the reader with an inside look at the history of the US State Department, US diplomacy, and US foreign policy of recent decades, during what was often an unstable and uncertain time. This first-hand, detailed account of the author’s work with foreign governments and populations provides a unique outlook on US relations around the world that has critical policy implications for the situations we face today. Through this retelling, Adair illuminates how the depth and accuracy needed of diplomats and Foreign Service agents requires a close and intimate understanding of the cultures and governments they work with.




What Diplomats Do


Book Description

What do diplomats actually do? That is what this text seeks to answer by describing the various stages of a typical diplomat’s career. The book follows a fictional diplomat from his application to join the national diplomatic service through different postings at home and overseas, culminating with his appointment as ambassador and retirement. Each chapter contains case studies, based on the author’s thirty year experience as a diplomat, Ambassador, and High Commissioner. These illustrate such key issues as the role of the diplomat during emergency crises or working as part of a national delegation to a permanent conference as the United Nations. Rigorously academic in its coverage yet extremely lively and engaging, this unique work will serve as a primer to any students and junior diplomats wishing to grasp what the practice of diplomacy is actually like.




Career Diplomacy


Book Description

Ronald Neumann, former US ambassador and president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, called the second edition of Career Diplomacy a "must-read for those seeking understanding of today's foreign service." In this third edition Kopp and Naland, both of whom had distinguished careers in the field, provide an authoritative and candid account of the foreign service, exploring the five career tracks--consular, political, economic, management, and public diplomacy--through their own experience and through interviews with over one hundred current and former foreign service officials. The book includes significant revisions and updates from the previous edition, such as: Obama administration's use of the foreign service; a thorough discussion of the relationship of the foreign service and the Department of State to other agencies, and to the combatant commands; an expanded analysis of hiring procedures; commentary on challenging management issues in the Department of State, including the proliferation of political appointments, the rapid growth in the number of high-level positions, and the difficulties of running an agency with employees in two personnel systems (civil service and foreign service); and a fresh examination of the changing nature and demographics of the foreign service. Includes a glossary, bibliography, and list of websites and blogs on the subject.




Journey to Ithaka: Memoirs of an American Diplomat


Book Description

"Dave Grimland journeys from his roots in Texas to his final home in Montana via stops in Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Bangladesh, and India--like Odysseus traveling home to Ithaka. As a member of the American diplomatic service, he had the rare opportunity to learn about other cultures and religions in a series of exciting and occasionally dangerous adventures, including a 1974 stop in Cyprus, where he found himself caught in the middle of a coup that would transform the region's politcal landscape. Some of the stories are funnny, others are sad, but all of them entertaining and informative. Take a deeper look into other cultures, and gain new perspectives on old, vexing problems with a Journey to Ithaka."--Back cover.




Not Always Diplomatic


Book Description

A pioneer for women in international diplomacy, Sue Boyd shares this account of her life in foreign service. 'An engaging account of life at the coalface by one of Australia's most active and effective diplomats - and real pathfinder in leading our diplomatic establishment out of its sexist dark age' -- Gareth Evans, Foreign Minister 1988-96 'A thoroughly engaging read. Sue's book took me for a walk down memory lane, remembering the tumultuous events of 2000 in Fiji and the fall out thereafter. Sue has a rare understanding of the Pacific Islands and its peoples. An enjoyable read. Part of it made me laugh out loud. From a gender perspective, it offers intuitions into the difficulties faced by women attempting to pierce the glass ceiling. Sue faced those difficulties with good humour and common sense, partly explaining why she has had such a successful career.' -- Imrana Jalal, The World Bank




From the Projects to the Palace


Book Description

This book tells an American success story: the rise of Johnny Young from a life of poverty in the American South and the slums of the North to the highest ranks of the U.S. Foreign Service. As the story unfolds, Young learns the value of hard work in the face of adversity, fights to acquire an education, meets the love of his life, becomes an accomplished diplomat, and serves on four continents to promote and defend American interests. This is also the story of the shared challenges and rewards of his familys life in the Foreign Service.