Abstract
American Foreign Services Officers (FSOs) at the Department of State are divided into five career “tracks” or specialties (formerly called “cones”). One specialty is designated for public diplomacy officers, and the others are for political, economic, consular, and management officers. Each new entrant into the Foreign Service is required to choose one of these five specialties, and is expected to spend the bulk of his or her career, although not all of it, in that specialty. Transfer between tracks is rare, although as explained below, cross-assignments have become common. In addition, at the beginning of their careers, FSOs often are required to do a consular assignment, even if their track is not consular.
This chapter analyzes the role of public diplomacy professionals working abroad in the context of an American embassy.
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Notes
Nicholas J. Cull, The Cold War and the United States Information Agency, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 187.
Harry W. Kopp and Charles A. Gillespie, Career Diplomacy: Life and Work in the U.S. Foreign Service, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2008.
James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, The Iraq Study Group Report, New York: Random House, 2006, p. 92.
David D. Pearce, Wary Partners: Diplomats and the Media, Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1995, p. 133.
Kathy R. Fitzpatrick, The Collapse of American Public Diplomacy: What Diplomatic Experts Say About Rebuilding America’s Image in the World—A View from the Trenches, Hamden CT: Quinnipiac University 2008, p. 13.
James L. Bullock, “The Role of the Embassy Public Affairs Officer After 9/11,” Chapter 4 in William A. Rugh, Ed., Engaging the Arab and Islamic Worlds through Public Diplomacy, Washington, DC: Public Diplomacy Council, 2004, pp. 35–48.
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© 2014 William A. Rugh
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Rugh, W.A. (2014). Public Diplomacy Professionals. In: Front Line Public Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137444158_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137444158_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-49554-2
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