Many moons ago, shortly after Edward Snowden’s revelations about the NSA first appeared, I wrote a column which began, “Repeat after me: Edward Snowden is not the story”. I was infuriated by the way the mainstream media was focusing...
BOOK EXCERPT
The Circuitous Route to Becoming an Ambassador
Adventure, service and international cooperation drew me to the Foreign Service. Don’t lose your own ideals on your way to the top.
By AMBASSADOR TOM ARMBRUSTER | JANUARY 3, 2021
Ambassador Tom Armbruster's interest in the environment and climate change led him underwater during his tour in the Marsall Islands. Photo by Raycrew Marshall Islands.
There are two ways to become an American ambassador. For the first one, you have to be handsomely rich, very well connected politically or capable of raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for a successful presidential candidate. The second route is more circuitous and demanding, but also more fun. It winds through the trails and passageways of the U.S. Foreign Service.
To join the Foreign Service, you must be a U.S. citizen, 21 or older, and willing to serve at any of the more than 270 American diplomatic missions around the w..