The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2014 67 In trying to cover so ambitious a list of topics in a short space, Gedda fails to do justice to most of them. the Washington to which they report. Making a comparison to Renaissance craftsmen who spent decades building cathedral doors which might well be completed long after their deaths, Smith concludes that the “craftsman in our field must pursue his work, understanding that he does not control the outcome, contributing what he can, as best he can, to a worthy endeavor.” Sage advice, indeed. Stephen W. Buck, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer, served at eight posts in the Arab world during his 39-year diplomatic career and was nominated for the Director General’s Reporting Award for his economic and, later, political reporting. He has served on the Foreign Service Journal Editorial Board since 2003. Worthy of Its Subject? The State Department: MoreThan Just Diplomacy George Gedda, AuthorHouse, 2014, $16.95, paperback, 166 pages. Reviewed by Steven Alan Honley Longtime readers of The Foreign Service Journal will instantly recognize George Gedda’s name, both for his nearly four decades as the State Department corre- spondent for the Associated Press and his frequent articles in the Journal . Review- ing his previous book— Cuba: The Auda- cious Revolution (CreateSpace, 2011)—in the March 2012 FSJ , John Maisto hailed it as “a great introduction to Cuba for non- experts. Yet it is also filled with stories and insights for specialists to ponder.” It appears that Gedda tried to follow that same middle-of-the-road formula with his new book, The State Department: More Than Just Diplomacy . And if anyone can engage a “lay” audience that is at least theoretically interested in a book about the State Department, while offer- ing some deeper insights for those who already know the subject, it is George Gedda. The good news is that the author clearly appreciates the importance of diplomacy and respects its practitioners, and he makes some useful points. But I’d be willing to bet that members of the Foreign Service community, and just about anyone else with at least a passing interest in for- eign affairs, already know the vast majority of the informa- tion he imparts here. Perhaps the book’s full subtitle is the first sign of trouble ahead: More Than Just Diplomacy: The Personalities, Turf Battles, Danger Zones for Diplomats, Exotic Datelines, Miscast Appointees, the Laughs — and, Sadly, the Occasional Homicide . In trying to cover so ambitious a list of topics in a short space, Gedda fails to do justice to most of them. After a foreword that inexplicably locates State in southwest D.C. rather than northwest, Gedda’s first chapter assesses the Secretaries of State he cov- ered and traveled with for the Associated Press. Yet his list omits Edmund Muskie (1980-1981) and Larry Eagleburger (1992-1993). (He does allude to both men later in the book, but fails to note that Eagleburger is the only career FSO ever to ascend to the top of the department.) That is followed by sections devoted to “Humor,” “Violence at Uncom- mon Venues,” “The State Department: Tales from the Home Office, Iran and Beyond,” “Central America—Turning Red?”, “Personalities,” “Destinations” and “Anecdotes.” Alas, most of the content is painfully dated, thin on substance and contains randommaterial with no apparent connection to State or diplomacy. Nor does it help matters that I see no evidence that anyone proofread or edited the book. Virtually every page has sen- tences with missing or repeated words, text that is riddled with punctua- tion and capitalization errors, and passages whose meaning is opaque at best. Gedda does share one amusing quip I’d never heard before: “Diplomats have to be fast on their feet, as illustrated by this (possibly apocry- phal) diplomat’s response to his wife upon realizing he had forgotten her birthday: ‘Honey, how can I remember your birthday when you never seem to grow older?’” I truly wish I could recommend The State Department: More Than Just Diplo- macy . Instead, I encourage you to check out Gedda’s previous book, Cuba: The Audacious Revolution , which is every- thing this one is not. n Steven Alan Honley is the contributing editor of The Foreign Service Journal.