On May 29, AFSA will present an event in collaboration with the association’s Professionalism and Ethics Committee. "Professionalism in the U.S. Government" will look at the concept of professionalism and apply it to the realities of U.S. government service. What is professionalism? What does it look like? Should these ideas be part of every government employee’s training? Is there a special application to the Foreign Service? We expect a lively conversation on these and many other key topics.

Our speaker is Dr. Don Snider, emeritus professor of political science at West Point, from which he retired in 2008. He serves now as a senior fellow in the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic at West Point and as Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College. Dr. Snider’s continuing research examines American civil-military relations, the identities and development of the U.S. Army officer, military professions and professional military ethics. He was research director and co-editor of The Future of the Army Profession (2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, 2005) and Forging the Warrior’s Character (2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, 2008). He also co-authored The Army’s Professional Military Ethic in an Era of Persistent Conflict (U.S. Army War College, 2008) and was co-editor with Suzanne Nielsen of American Civil-Military Relations: The Soldier and the State in the New Era (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009). He is a recognized authority on the topic of professionalism.

This program takes place at AFSA headquarters, 2101 E St NW, and begins at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 29. Please RSVP to events@afsa.org