Inside a U.S. Embassy: How the Foreign Service Works for America

Gain a sense of the key role played by each member of an embassy team from Paris to Kabul, from Bogota to Beijing, and places in between. Travel into the rainforests of Thailand with an environmental affairs officer, face rampaging militias with a political officer in East Timor, and join an ambassador on a midnight trip into a Macedonian refugee camp to quell a riot.

The book includes profiles of diplomats and specialists around the world serving in Foreign Service positions -- from the ambassador to the security officer to the IT professional. Also included is a selection of day-in-the-life entries from 17 different countries, each describing an actual day on the job in an embassy. The story section includes 26 tales from the field that give a sense of the extraordinary: the coups, the evacuations, the civil wars, the hardships and rewards of representing America to the world.

Inside a U.S. Embassy was published by the American Foreign Service Association and edited by a former Foreign Service Political Officer. Updated and revised for 2005.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Much further than in the reception area, 2008-03-16
First of all, taking up this book one shouldn't anticipate that he might be introduced to different stages of political decision-making processes at the embassy or in Washington. That's clearly not the purpose of the book. But irrespective of that, it is brisk and exciting, packed with the information, surely about the largest Foreign Service in the world.
The book is divided into three parts. The first is a matter-of-fact account about overall embassy jobs, which gives each position job description precisely on two pages. Those summaries are fairly elaborate to allow to distinguish, for instance, between Economic Officer and Commercial Officer.
The second part comes up with an insight from the daily agendas of Foreign Service members. Among numerous full-day schedules and activities, one can also find out there, that US Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, for instance, observes Nigerian national holidays, that doesn't seem to be general practice.
Finally, in the last part, Foreign Service members put in the picture their most interesting, but also unpleasant accounts of their time at a US Embassy.
All in all, a useful book for both, those, who have already been to an embassy, and those, who have not. An inaccuracy in the book, since it is updated and revised for 2005, is a reference to a number of the EU member-states (p.31), which today is twenty-seven instead of fifteen.



0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A good look at the working life of our diplomats., 2008-02-26
It is written in an interestingly simple and entertaining style. The book consists primarily of many short stories that describe a day in the life of several Foreign Service Officers, each in various parts of the world and various functional areas. I enjoy reading it and the way it is written. It is easy to travel with, as you can start and stop in the short segments, or skip to an embassy function or area of the world that may be of interest. Certainly worth it.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Know what the format is before you buy it, 2007-12-04
Instead of discussing how a typical embassy is organized, what role each of the officers plays in the organization, how they are assigned, chosen, rated, the book begins with two-page vignettes of people holding different positions in different embassies. You don't really get a good idea of how the embassy is run, just the duties of the PAO, the Consul, the Environmental Officer, etc. Also, the book is clearly a meant as promotional material for the State Department, glossing over current problems with visas, unstable regimes, unfair trade practices, etc.

The only real laugh I got was a section about a State Department Environmental Officer discussing "environmental issues to often skeptical audiences." Yeah, like trying to tell natives in Greenland that global warming is real and they need to get with the program by taking those fur coats off.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Well-organized view inside the embassy, 2007-01-10
One of the strengths of this book is that it relates three facets into the life of a diplomat: the job itself, a day in the life, and "war stories." Of all the career resources I've seen this is the first one that broke a career into this logical structure. The only piece is missing is the all-important family piece, but that is well-covered in the companion book "Realities of Foreign Service Life" by Patricia Linderman.
Dorman's book describes each role in the embassy as written by the person in that role, starting at foreign national all the way to ambassador. The day in the life shares what a person in a specific function does that day. You wonder if those days are really that eventful, and seemingly they are. The "war stories" section, for lack of better name, are exciting and are full of high adventure overseas. "Diplomats do it unarmed" might be the corresponding bumper sticker.

This book's candid portrayal reinforces the need for the prospective diplomat (and their family) to know exactly what they are getting into. This book provides that insight, warts and all. Don't rely on the DoS's online interest survey or website to provide an objective viewpoint; if you're gonna buy that pricey subscription to "The Economist" you want to be sure this is what you want to do!

Fortunately this book is also current in that it somewhat reflects the post-9/11 world. However, with the Secretary Rice's January 2006 announcement of a strategic restructuring of the State Department, this book may need a second edition.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

OK Starter, 2007-01-09
This book is a good place to start if you want to get a peek into the life of a FSO. Easy flowing...Good read.

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