#foreign service

Language study - not always pretty

The foreign service?  Dude your friends should do the vast majority of what the diplomacy core do is like...preventing a fucking war from breaking out, providing international aid, ensuring greater cooperation and coordinating international communication.  Like the military is a pretty ambiguous organization but the State Department is mostly good, like even the US military admits that most conflicts can be fixed by the State department rather than the Military.  

Women in Foreign Affairs by John Foster Dulles, Nov 21, 1957

We continue our celebration of Women’s History Month by recognizing women in foreign affairs. 

In 1957, there were few women in the U.S. Foreign Service, and only seven had held the position of Minister or Ambassador. 

In fact, the first woman joined the diplomatic ranks in 1922. And most of the women working in the field were not Foreign Service officers but instead served in support (clerical, administrative, and fiscal duties) or Civil Service positions, 

World War II opened the door for women to join the work force -- including the Foreign Service -- at greater numbers and higher professional levels.  

The first likely pronouncement on women’s contributions to foreign affairs was in November 1957. The General Federation of Women’s Club contacted the Department of State, sharing plans to devote an upcoming issue of The Clubwoman (their monthly publication) to the subject of women in international affairs. The group requested a statement from Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.

Dulles’ response was likely the first such pronouncement on women’s contributions to foreign affairs.  He stressed: “It is woman’s work no less than man’s work to represent the United States...”

Today, women comprise 41% of the U.S. Foreign Service generalists and 29% of specialists, and 30 women currently hold ambassador posts

The reading list is long, and for some people it may be too much to remember all at once. Sometimes you’re tired and you just want to turn on Netflix? But why does that mean that you can’t learn?

The Most Effective:

CNN Decades Documentaries (Netflix): These cover international issues, US politics, US history, and culture during 3 decades.

-Sixties

-Seventies

-Eighties

History Channel’s “Presidents” Documentary

There’s a playlist on Youtube 

Guns, Germs & Steel: This is the documentary for one of the books on the suggested reading list.

I’ve found 3 parts on Youtube.

For Fun:

Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown”

Since it’s a food show, it doesn’t actually give any particular information, but he does some historical background on the places he visits and introduces us to new countries, languages, and cultures.

Madame Secretary