The Foreign Service Journal, May 2012

sional with on-the-ground experience that can’t be beat argues against pick- ing the wrong side in a conflict (and demonizing the future winners). What if Washington had heeded that counsel? As Kurlantzick notes, Viet- nam and America “have developed close ties, based partly on a shared fear of a rising China — exactly the kind of shared interests … that Thompson and other early OSS operatives had in mind.” And what does that episode say about our other “foreign entangle- ments”? Or the importance of weigh- ing the advice of all those who see things a different way — and aren’t afraid to speak up about it? These are all matters well worth pondering, even if you never purchase a Jim Thompson tie. Josh Glazeroff, an FSO since 1997, is consul general in New Delhi. M A Y 2 0 1 2 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 55 B O O K S Thompson’s career raises questions about the fate of those who see things a different way, and aren’t afraid to speak up.