The Foreign Service Journal, November 2021

42 NOVEMBER 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL six conscientious leaders in the United States who have wrestled with these choices firsthand: a soldier, an innovator, a diplomat, a negotiator, a scholar and a statesman. His hope is that readers will come to see a part of their story in the stories they find in these pages, and perhaps ask similar questions about the choices facing America today. Andrew Imbrie, the son of a U.S. Foreign Service officer, is a senior fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, where he teaches foreign policy speechwriting and rhetoric to graduate and undergraduate students. He previously served as a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the State Department, where he was a speechwriter to Secretary of State John Kerry. Imbrie has lived in Amman, Paris, London, Brussels, Rome and Washington, D.C. Career Diplomacy: Life and Work in the US Foreign Service, Fourth Edition Harry W. Kopp and John K. Naland, Georgetown University Press, 2021, $29.95/hardcover, e-book available, 280 pages. It is a sign of just how successful, and necessary, this book is that it has gone through four editions in just 13 years. Soon after the last revision in 2017, President Donald Trump’s administration delivered shocks to the traditional norms and standards of American diplomatic practice that continue to reverberate today, calling into question assumptions about the nature of Foreign Service work that had long been taken for granted. This edition helps tell that story of reinvention, capturing recent changes in the Foreign Service ranging from how to get in to what to expect throughout the course of a career. And as previous editions have done, Career Diplomacy describes the Foreign Service as an institution, a profession and a career. It provides a full picture of the organization, including its history and its role in American foreign affairs. Most of all, though, it is a guide to the Foreign Service, written by two insiders who speak frankly about its weaknesses, as well as its strengths. Harry W. Kopp, a former Foreign Service officer, served as deputy assistant secretary of State for international trade policy in the Carter and Reagan administrations. He is a frequent contributor to The Foreign Service Journal and a member of its editorial board. John K. Naland’s 29-year Foreign Service career included a stint as director of the Office of Retirement. A two-time former president of the American Foreign Service Association and the current AFSA retiree vice president, he is now a part-time lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute. Diplomacy and the Future of World Order Edited by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela Aall, Georgetown University Press, 2021, $36.95/paperback, e-book available, 376 pages. In his foreword to what he calls “a timely and important book about the diplomacy of conflict management,” retired Ambassador William J. Burns (a former Deputy Secretary of State who is currently director of the Central Intelligence Agency) notes that the 19 contribu- tors to this volume do not always agree on how diplomacy can best cope with great-power competition and threats to the state system itself. But they share a broad consensus on two points: the centrality of human agency, and the role of major states in determining which scenario is realized. These factors will determine the “space” available for the important contributions to peacemaking by international and regional bodies and medium-sized to small states, as well as by civil society and nongovernmental organizations. Besides Ambassador Burns, the other Foreign Service contributor is retired Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, a familiar name to Foreign Service Journal readers. Ambassador Freeman’s bracing chapter delves into “Sino-U.S. Interactions, Past and Future,” and finds little ground for optimism. Chester A. Crocker is the James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where his teaching focuses on international conflict management and mediation. His many senior government positions include eight years as assistant secretary of State for African affairs (1981-1989). Fen Osler Hampson is Chancellor’s Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa and president of the World Refugee & Migration Council. Pamela Aall is senior adviser for conflict prevention and management at the U.S. Institute of Peace and an adjunct professor at American University.