U.S. Foreign Service

U.S. Department of State

IRAN 1979

IRAN 1979Mark & Cora Lijek

GRENADA 1983

Grenada 1983Phil Carter

IRAQ INVADES KUWAIT 1990

KUWAIT 1990

NAIROBI 1995

NAIROBI 1998Bob Godec & Mike Marine

GREECE 1999

GREECE 1999

IRAQ 2010

IRAQ 2010Laurent Charbonnet

IRAQ 2010

What do FSOs Do?

• Five main areas of specialization (“cones”)–Political Affairs–Consular Affairs–Public Affairs–Management–Economic Affairs

Desired Skill Set“13 Dimensions”

• Composure• Cultural Adaptability• Experience and Motivation• Information Integration & Analysis• Initiative and Leadership• Judgment• Written & Oral Communication

Desired Skill Set“13 Dimensions”

• Planning & Organizing• Quantitative Analysis• Resourcefulness• Working with others

Advocacy• U.S. policy• U.S. interests

– American citizens– American corporations– Perceptions of U.S.

• Intergovernmental organizations– Votes– Candidates– Reforms

What do Officers Do?

• IT DEPENDS–On the Administration’s policies–On your post of assignment–On the size of the post–On the organization of the post–On the presence of other agencies–On the Ambassador–On the host government

Typical Officer Duties

• Advocacy• Reporting• Outreach• Visitors

Reporting

• Host country internal developments• Host country external developments• Labor issues• Environment, science, technology,

health• Agriculture• Resources

Outreach• Speeches, seminars, op-eds, visits to

– Parliamentarians– Media– Schools & universities– NGOs– Trade associations– Chambers of Commerce– Ministries (Foreign Affairs, Finance,

Economy, Interior, Justice, Environment)

Visitors• White House• Congress• State Department• Industry

delegations• Trade associations• Lobbyists• State, city, county

trade promotion groups

• Other U.S. agencies– Commerce– USTR– Defense– Transportation– Homeland Security– FAA– AID– Treasury– Agriculture– Energy

How Do I Prepare for a Foreign Service Career?

• The Economist• Foreign Affairs• Business Week• National weekly news magazine

(Time, Newsweek)• www.state.gov reading list

RESOURCES

• www.state.gov• www.facebook.com• www.afsa.org (American Foreign Service Assoc)

• www.foreignpolicy.com• www.usdiplomacy.org• pdstephenson@gmail.com

More Resources

• http://apps.usa.gov/doscareers.shtml• http://www.youtube.com/user/statevideo• youtube.com search FSOT• Facebook search FSOT, Department of

State