The Foreign Service on Screen: The Brink

Ladies and gentleman, The Brink. Starring Jack Black as buffoonish USAID official Alex Talbot, Assif Mandvi as his Pakistani friend/driver Rafiq Massoud and Tim Robbins as the skirt-chasing Secretary of State.

The first season is set in Pakistan, where a major political crisis is underway following a coup. So far the show seems to be aiming for a cross between Madame Secretary, Doctor Strangelove and Animal House. 

Now, to be clear...USAID officials don't work for the State Department. USAID is an independent agency with a foreign policy directive that serves under the Secretary of State. Confusing?

The American ambassador to Pakistan (John Larquette) frequently mentions how much he'd like to fire Talbot - something ambassadors don't have the authority to do. Hiring and dismissal are both strictly controlled processes.

So far it's a bit uneven. The mix of low comedy (sex jokes, pee jokes etc.) and high political drama don't always jibe convincingly.

El Regreso de Cuba

 So now we have a full Embassy in Cuba again.

Of course, we've had an 'interests section' for quite some time. The shift, however, is important as it signals a return to normal state of relations. It will be some time, however, before things can be truly normal again.

There s the usual huffing and puffing from people who think that we're doing the Cubans any good by maintaining a Cold War mentality into the 21st century.  Some Congresspeople have threatened to block funding for the 'new embassy', completely ignorant that we already have one.

This is obviously very good news for people who believe in diplomacy, and a defeat for those who want to give an obviously failed policy another 50 years to work.

The Ambassadors

What is Diplomacy? Part III

To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy.

- Will Durant

Se Habla Espanol

Sit tight, folks. I'm in Language Training. Spanish, to be exact, and will be for the next six weeks.

I can't promise too many riveting posts about use of the subjunctive. I'll find something to talk about. 

The Foreign Service on Stage: The Merry Widow

Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry WIdow) is a comic opera by Franz Lehar. It tells the story of the tiny European country of 'Pontevedro'. At their embassy in Paris, all the Pontevedran notables are terrified that Hanna Glawari (the 'merry widow' of the title), whose late husband was the richest man in the duchy, will re-marry and give her fortune to a foreigner, which would bankrupt the nation.

The image of diplomatic service (exemplified by the song above) is the old one. Top hats, champagne parties,white gloves. International intrigue solved by a few waltzes and a chorus.

Thing is, it used to rather be like that. Diplomatic posts were not usually paid, meaning that only independently wealthy people could apply for them. People were generally motivated more by the prestige of hobnobbing with other high society types abroad rather than the opportunity to serve their country.

The Merry Widow may not be particularly deep but it's fun and lighthearted and a relic of a simpler time when high politics was a game.

I Have Been Voted Most Likely...

...to cause an international incident!

Thank you to all my A-100 colleagues who saw the potential in me.

You have to make name for yourself somehow.

Single in the Service

 

Reading novels by Graham Greene, you'd think the life of the Brit or American abroad was an endless whirl of love affairs with delicate young women who have no thoughts of their own. Not so!

It's not particularly easy being single in any time or place, but the Foreign Service has many of the difficulties of the transient, expat life combined with certain restrictions on who you can associate with and under what circumstances.

Your spouse will probably be forced to give up his/her career and follow you around, kids in tow. Obviously this is a bigger problem for the highly ambitious, but even the more easily contented may find it difficult to find suitable employment depending on where you get posted.

The divorce rate is high and many have trouble forming meaningful, lasting relationships. You're a 'catch' - good salary, prestige, a certain amount of status depending on that country's relationship to the United States - but that leads you to doubt your partner's intentions.

Avoid that route and marry another FSO, and you could very easily get split up for years at a time. The State Department tries to keep 'tandem' couples together, but they make no promises.

For women, especially, it can be challenging. Cultural attitudes don't always welcome working women, and the American population may be more interested in local girls. A not particularly funny joke goes like this:

How can you tell where FSOs served their first tour?

For men, look at his wife.
For women, look at her furniture.

Har har har. It's good furniture though.