The Foreign Service Journal, March 2011

A FSA’s popular introduction to the Foreign Service, Inside a U.S. Em- bassy: How the Foreign Service Works for America , continued to sell well in 2010, about 3,000 copies. We released a Kindle version of the book for Amazon in July, and by year’s end had sold about 170 copies of the electronic edition. The all-new edition, Inside a U.S. Embassy: Diplomacy at Work , will be released in early 2011. Along with profiles of diplomats and specialists in most types of Foreign Service jobs (including State, USAID, FCS and FAS), day-in-the-life entries from For- eign Service members around the world, and tales from the field, the new edition will feature chap- ters on the Foreign Service exam process and a look at FS life and work. For more information, please visit www.afsa.org/inside. 30 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 1 1 T his year’s most popular edition of the For- eign Service Journal , judging from online hits, letters to the editor and other feedback, was February’s “Exploring NewWorlds: Life & Work after the Foreign Service,” which brought 4,995 unique visitors to our Web site. Close be- hind were the July-August issue, which profiled AFSA’s dissent and performance award-winners and featured a set of article-length Reflections pieces, and the January edi- tion, whose cover story examined USAID’s prospects. Just days after we released the September issue, focus- ing on the Office of Medical Services, the Department of State sent out a cable encouraging all employees to seek help to deal with stress. The message also assured them that doing so would not affect their security clearance, a key concern of many AFSA members who provided input for our coverage. Working with a local company, Texterity, the Journal continued to upgrade its online presence, attracting more unique visitors. Thanks to our enhanced digital capabili- ties, we again significantly exceeded our target for online advertising this year. ANNUAL REPORT American Foreign Service Association 2010 thusiastically supported the winning awardees and honored Ambassador Lain- gen. In accepting the award for lifetime contributions to American diplomacy, he introduced his wife, Penne, as his main support. She modestly stood to great rounds of applause. AFSA presents other awards throughout the year, such as the Sinclaire Language Awards, which honor FS foreign language students for outstanding ac- complishment in the study of a hard language and its as- sociated culture. AFSA established the program based on a bequest from Matilda W. Sinclaire, a former For- eign Service officer. The 2010 winners were Joshua Baker (Arabic), Alfred Boll (Serbian), 2003 Serbian-language winner Laura Brown (Arabic), Alan Clark (Mandarin Chinese), William M. Coleman (Japan- ese), Scott Hansen (Mandarin Chinese), Adam Hantman (Thai), Zachary Harken- ride (Dari), Meredith Rubin (Icelandic), Denise Shen (Mandarin Chinese) and Vincent Traverso (Dari). AFSA also sponsors the George Kennan Writing Award, given each year in honor of the best paper writ- ten by a State Department employee enrolled at the Na- tional War College. This year’s winner was Andrew J. Weinschenk. Foreign Service Books: Inside a U.S. Embassy ■ B Y S HAWN D ORMAN , E DITOR /P UBLISHER , F OREIGN S ERVICE B OOKS Foreign Service Journal Builds Digital Audience ■ B Y S TEVEN A LAN H ONLEY , E DITOR The AFSA Constructive Dissent Awards are unique in the U.S. government.