Books, Elections, and More

Letter from the Deputy Editor

BY DONNA SCARAMASTRA GORMAN

Before becoming an editor at AFSA, I was a writer. I wrote a blog, back when blogs were a thing. I wrote articles for the Journal but also for other publications. I wrote press releases and reports for the U.S. government as a Foreign Service family member at various posts overseas. And at some point, I decided, why not write a book?

I can now report: Writing a book is painful, even for someone who considers herself a “writer.” And even once the book is written, you still have to edit it. A lot. And get others to review and edit it. And get it published. And market it. And read the reviews (though I cannot recommend enough to my fellow writers that they not read the reviews).

For the past three years, I’ve been the lead editor for the annual In Their Own Write (ITOW) edition, the roundup of books by Foreign Service members. In that time I’ve read, skimmed, and flipped through a lot of books—like, a lot.

Every year it seems more and more FS members are putting their thoughts down on the page and doing the hard work of bringing forth books. They share those books with us—and then we share them with you. I’m continually impressed with the depth and breadth of our collection, and this year is no exception.

In the mix are memoirs (I love the memoirs!), fiction (ditto), textbooks, books on leadership, self-help guides, and more. Seriously, there’s something here for everybody, so peruse the guide and consider buying a few of the most interesting for yourself or your friends.

You’ll also find books “of related interest”—books written by outside experts on topics of interest to the foreign affairs community.

Every year it seems more and more FS members are putting their thoughts down on the page and bringing forth books.

But wait, there’s more!

Everybody in Washington, D.C., is talking about the upcoming midterm elections, so we decided it was a good time to pull together a mini focus on monitoring elections from the diplomacy perspective.

With that in mind, we asked retired Senior FSO and seasoned overseas election observer Doug Wake to share what he knows about ensuring fair and transparent elections, while retired Senior FSO Karl Stoltz tells us how the Global Engagement Center—his final Foreign Service assignment in a 38-year FS career—served as a check on global disinformation.

Still not enough?

For our semiannual education supplement, college consultant and FS family member Lauren Steed is back with “Adulting 101,” a guide for parents who are getting ready to send their kids out into the world on their own and want to make sure those kids are ready to meet the challenge. (Apparently our children no longer need to know how to balance a checkbook using those tiny paper registers—but they do still need to understand how money works!)

Plus all the sections you expect to see in your FSJ: a Reflection on post-revolution Bucharest; an FS Heritage piece on the legacy of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training at 40, especially its oral history program; and a new feature from USAID’s John Dunlop on the January 2025 evacuation from DR Congo, which unfolded exactly at the same frightening time as USAID was being illegally dismantled in Washington.

And do not miss the coverage and the VP Voices in AFSA News.

Now that you’re inspired by all your author colleagues, think about writing and submitting something yourself to the FSJ. We always welcome topical stories related to diplomacy: opinion pieces, reflections, book reviews, letters, and more.

To write for us, visit our FSJ Author Guidelines page. And reach out to us with comments, pitches, or questions anytime at journal@afsa.org.