The Foreign Service Journal, May 2015

68 MAY 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Nice Guys Really Do Finish First Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy Christopher R. Hill, Simon & Schuster, 2014, $30/hardcover, $14.99/Kindle, 448 pages. Reviewed By Steven Alan Honley Foreign Service memoirs tend to come in two flavors. Many retired FSOs (legends in their own mind, if not their own time) revel in detailing the myriad ways in which they were absolutely indispensable to the success of U.S. foreign policy throughout their distin- guished careers. The more generous of them acknowledge that colleagues and underlings may have been involved, as well, but only in supporting roles. Other memoirists choose a humble- brag approach, professing to have been just a small cog in the diplomatic machinery—but then quoting slews of folks who extol their role as actually having been key. That attitude may have been what inspired Golda Meir’s catch- phrase: “Don’t be so humble! You’re not that great.” Four-time Ambassador Christopher R. Hill’s career certainly gave him plenty of material for a self-congratulatory memoir in either of those traditions. Happily, Outpost: Life on the Front- lines of American Diplomacy not only adroitly avoids both traps, but stands as an exemplar of its genre. After a short prologue recounting an especially eventful day during his year as ambassador to Iraq (2009-2010), Hill employs a straightforwardly chronologi- cal approach for the rest of the book. Normally, I’m not enthralled to read about the early days of authors, but his account of growing up in a Foreign Service family, and spending two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon in the mid-1970s, actually left me wanting to hear more. (Admittedly, that could also be at least partly due to the fact that during my own Foreign Service career, I spent three years as the desk officer for that fascinating country.) While it seems likely to me that someone with Hill’s diplomatic and linguistic talents would have advanced in any case, the retired ambassador readily acknowledges that he was highly fortunate in his mentors, chiefly Larry Eagleburger (the only career FSO to serve as Secretary of State) and Richard Holbrooke. Hill gives us lots of stories about the latter figure; indeed, it is rare for him not to mention Holbrooke at least once in every chapter, if only in passing. Over the course of his career, Hill was entrusted with increasingly promi- nent roles in handling momentous negotiations, from the 1995 Dayton Accords to the Six-Party talks with North Korea a decade later. Though he is, understandably, no fan of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, he does give the devil his due. The same is true for other difficult characters with whom Hill butted heads. Still, as Hill observes, some problems remain intractable no matter how hard you work. This is especially true when key policymakers in your own government oppose the very concept of nego- tiations, as Hill’s frustrat- ing encounters with Vice President Dick Cheney and Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, among others, make painfully clear. On a brighter note, one of my favorite episodes in Outpost comes from Hill’s too-brief stint as ambassador to South Korea (2004- 2005). Determined to get off on the right foot, he asks a group of young Korean contacts how Embassy Seoul can improve its website. “Get a new one!” is the immediate response. Instead of being offended or seeking a more palat- able answer from another group, Hill does just that. Then, when a Foreign Service National employee confirms Hill’s sense that his inaugural posting on the new and improved site is “extremely boring,” the ambassador asks him to take his chair while he dictates a new message: “It was also boring, but at least it came directly from me and gave the audience a sense that they were communicating with the U.S. ambassador.” One also gets that strong sense of connection throughout this masterful memoir, which is anything but boring! n Steven Alan Honley is The Foreign Service Journal’ s contributing editor. Still, as Hill observes, some problems remain intractable no matter how hard you work. This is especially true when key policymakers in your own government oppose the very concept of negotiations. BOOKS