According to the list:
"Foreign Service Officers must be well-informed and knowledgeable across many
disciplines: current world and national affairs, economics, history, public affairs, and
management, among others. And, since Foreign Service Officers represent the
United States to the world, they must also possess an insightful understanding of
American society and culture. This breadth of knowledge is usually gathered
gradually over time. The best foundation is a solid education and a personal life-habit
of reading, learning, and expanding one’s understanding of the world.

Given this breadth, it is difficult to provide a definitive reading list that will prepare a
person for the Foreign Service selection process, and for a Foreign Service career.
Nonetheless, the reading list below illustrates the kinds of books and readings that
can set you in the right direction. "

I'm adding all the books officially recommended initially-if anyone wants to add others, go for it!

[Source: http://careers.state.gov/resources/su... ]
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119 books · 59 voters · list created January 20th, 2012 by Heidi (votes) .
285 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Heidi 2543 books
16 friends
Shu 2031 books
8 friends
Mike 10032 books
64 friends
Camille 194 books
88 friends
Brian 188 books
98 friends
Yolima 5 books
9 friends
Ross 223 books
48 friends
Matt 1177 books
89 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-3 of 3 (3 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Jenn "JR" (new)

Jenn "JR" I added some more books - the list has changed a little bit - https://careers.state.gov/wp-content/...


message 2: by Sayed (new)

Sayed Hashemi I would be much appreciated to access the soft copy of the books for reading.


message 3: by Grant (new)

Grant Earnest My reason for adding Bureaucracy: Good book on the incentives that bureaucracies face. One of the takeaways is that successful agencies produce publicly visible and concrete services. Sustaining diplomatic engagement, which often is behind the scenes and requires balancing conflicting goals, is less rewarded than, say, producing cables, spending grants, and reviewing visa applications.


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