October 2023
The Foreign Service Journal covers foreign affairs from an insider’s perspective, providing thought-provoking articles on international issues, the practice of diplomacy, and the U.S. Foreign Service. Including the AFSA News section, The Journal is published monthly (January-February and July-August issues combined) by the American Foreign Service Association.
The October issue focuses on Foreign Service families at home.
We always welcome short, focused letters about FSJ content; please send them to journal@afsa.org.
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FOCUS ON FOREIGN SERVICE FAMILIES AT HOME
Our Foreign Service Adoption Journey
Here is an insightful and heartwarming account of how one couple fulfilled their dream of becoming parents through adoption.
Cultural Identity Formation in Third Culture Kids
Helping their children form an American cultural and national identity is a particular challenge for Foreign Service parents. One FSO offers some practical pointers from her family’s experience.
Resources for Raising Foreign Service Kids
Get to know the nonprofit groups and State Department offices that offer a social safety net for Foreign Service youth.
How One FS Kid Created a Human Rights Organization
Building a pro-bono human rights research group gave university student volunteers from around the world valuable, real-life career experience—and made a difference, too.
Third Culture Kids: The Enduring Effects of Formative Years in Cairo
Long after retirement, a group of TCKs who were grade-school classmates in Egypt reunited online. Here they tell their story.
COVER STORY
Crisis at the Russian White House, 1993
On the 30th anniversary of what Russians call the “October Coup,” a veteran FSO offers an inside view of the fateful standoff between the president and the legislature in Moscow.
FEATURE
Doggedly
Pet transport while in the Foreign Service is a daunting task. This semifictional account does not stray far from its absurdly exasperating reality.
FS HERITAGE
U.S. Consul Thayer’s Beethoven
The best biography of the great Ludwig van Beethoven was written by a U.S. diplomat in the late 19th century. Here is the story.