The U.S. Foreign Service is sometimes derided, often underappreciated, occasionally praised, rarely examined, and almost never understood. And yet whether America's diplomacy succeeds or fails depends to a large extent on its Foreign Service professionals. "Career Diplomacy" is an insider's guide that examines the Foreign Service as an institution, a profession, and a career. Harry W. Kopp and Charles A. Gillespie, both of whom had long and distinguished careers in the Foreign Service, provide a full and well-rounded picture of the organization, its place in history, its strengths and weaknesses, and its role in American foreign affairs. Based on their own experiences and through interviews with over 85 current and former Foreign Service officials, the authors lay out what to expect in a Foreign Service career, from the entrance exam through midcareer and into the senior service - how to get in, get around, and get ahead. This book concludes with a stirring chapter on tomorrow's diplomats and the future of the Foreign Service as an institution. Readers will benefit from several appendices, which include a Department of State organization chart, core precepts of the Foreign Service, and internet resources. "Career Diplomacy" reveals what America's professional diplomats do and how they do it. It is a rare, first-hand look in to the life and work of this country's professional diplomats, who advance and protect U.S. national security interests around the globe.
Harry W. Kopp, author (with Tony Gillespie) of the book Career Diplomacy, is a former foreign service officer and consultant in international trade. Career Diplomacy, first published in 2008, is now in a revised and updated second edition, released in 2011. Former Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger, a career foreign service officer, called Career Diplomacy "the best description of life in the foreign service -- its challenges, dangers, satisfactions, and fun -- I have ever seen."
Kopp was deputy assistant secretary of state for international trade policy in the Carter and Reagan administrations. He represented the United States in multilateral trade negotiations and testified before Congress on foreign corrupt practices, East-West trade, export controls, antidumping regulations, and American competitiveness. He served abroad in Warsaw, where he directed the United States-Poland Trade Development Center, and Brasilia, Brazil, where he was deputy chief of mission. He received superior and meritorious honor awards from the Department of State and a presidential award for public service from President Ronald Reagan.
Kopp is president of Harry Kopp, LLC, and Venture Factors, Inc. (USA), a division of Zabaleta and Company, a Philippine corporation. He was a founding partner of L. A. Motley and Company, a director of the now defunct Old Dominion Brewing Company, and a vice president of the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C., research organization.
Kopp's books include Career Diplomacy, a best-selling guide to the U.S. Foreign Service (2008, 2011), and Commercial Diplomacy and the National Interest (2004). Kopp has also written for The New York Times and other publications. His first work of fiction, the short story "Trotsky in the Bronx," won the Goldenberg Prize and will appear in the Spring 2012 edition of the Bellevue Literary Review.
He is a graduate of Hamilton College and holds a master's degree from Yale. He lives with his wife Jane in Annapolis, Maryland. His websites are harrykopp.com and careerdiplomacy.com.
