Washington, D.C.
Inside American Diplomacy With the Foreign Service
Program No. 18260RJ
Discuss foreign policy with diplomats, attend international briefings and go behind the scenes of key diplomatic institutions as you gain special access to the U.S. Foreign Service.
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5 days
4 nights
10 meals
4B 3L 3D
1
Registration, Welcome Dinner, Orientation, Intro. to AFSA
Washington, DC
2
AFSA Lectures
Washington, DC
3
Georgetown School of Foreign Service, Embassy Row
Washington, DC
4
AFSA Lectures, Foreign Service Institute
Washington, DC
5
Final Lectures & Wrap-Up, Program Concludes
Washington, DC
At a Glance
What do U.S. diplomats in the Foreign Service do? Their mission is manifold: to promote peace, support national security goals, advance U.S. business and agricultural interests and protect American citizens. Gain in-depth, behind-the-scenes knowledge of work and life in the Foreign Service from active and retired officers and ambassadors who share their personal experiences firsthand. Examine U.S. foreign policy issues in action — enhanced by Q&A sessions — to better understand what tomorrow may bring.
Activity Level
Easy Going
Minimal walking and standing; must be able to get on/off bus.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Enjoy frank and forthcoming engagement with retired and active-duty diplomats from across the foreign affairs agencies who are experts in the field of foreign policy and diplomacy.
- Visit some of the key diplomacy institutions and explore U.S. diplomatic history.
- Delve into Washington’s diplomatic community on a narrated field trip to “Embassy Row.”
General Notes
This program runs back-to-back with "Spies, Lies & Intelligence: The World of International Espionage" (#16126).
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Ira Deutsch
Ira Deutsch was born and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. At age 20, he moved to Israel and joined the Israeli military, retiring with the rank of LTC after 26 years of military service. His service included international affairs, coordinating relationships with multiple countries including the United States military. Ira’s last assignment before retiring was as a Foreign Liaison Officer to the U.S. National Guard and FEMA, stationed in Washington, DC. His coordinating experience makes him uniquely qualified to serve as a Group Leader.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Ira Deutsch
View biography
Ira Deutsch was born and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. At age 20, he moved to Israel and joined the Israeli military, retiring with the rank of LTC after 26 years of military service. His service included international affairs, coordinating relationships with multiple countries including the United States military. Ira’s last assignment before retiring was as a Foreign Liaison Officer to the U.S. National Guard and FEMA, stationed in Washington, DC. His coordinating experience makes him uniquely qualified to serve as a Group Leader.
Suggested Reading List
(10 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Inside American Diplomacy With the Foreign Service
Program Number: 18260
Inside a U.S. Embassy
Inside a U.S. Embassy is widely recognized as the essential guide to the Foreign Service which takes readers to more than fifty U.S. missions around the world, introducing Foreign Service professionals and providing detailed descriptions of their jobs and firsthand accounts of diplomacy in action.
Diplomats at War: Friendship and Betrayal on the Brink of the Vietnam Conflict
Charles Trueheart retells the story of the United States’ headlong plunge into war from an entirely new vantage point—that of a son piecing together how his father and godfather participated in, and were deeply damaged by, this historic flashpoint. Their critical rupture, which also destroyed their close friendship, served as a dramatic preface to the United States’ disastrous involvement in the Vietnam conflict.
From Vision to Action: Remaking the World Through Social Entrepreneurship
Beginning with an improbable effort to promote cooperation between the CIA and the KGB, this book features examples that range from helping prevent genocide in Burundi to using children’s television to lessen ethnic tensions in Macedonia to creating a culture of mediation in Morocco. Readers learn key lessons, such as adapting to unexpected outcomes, communicating persuasive stories, and being incrementally transformational, or transformationally incremental. Bringing together compelling narratives and useful tools, From Vision to Action delivers practical guidance on building bridges and creating meaningful change.
Diplomatic Tradecraft
Diplomatic Tradecraft brings together 18 career ambassadors with decades of experience to lift the curtain on a mysterious but vital profession, and to pass on the insights and abilities they gained to those who will succeed them.
The Art of Diplomacy: How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements That Changed the World
In one readable volume, diplomat and negotiator Stuart E. Eizenstat covers every major contemporary international agreement, from the treaty to end the Vietnam War to the Kyoto Protocols and the Iranian Nuclear Accord. Written from the perspective that only a participant in top level negotiations can bring, Eizenstat recounts the events that led up to the negotiation, the drama that took place around the table, and draws lessons from successful and unsuccessful strategies and tactics.
Kept: An American Househusband in India
Kept: An American Househusband in India is a hilarious, heart-warming tale of a company man turned trailing spouse when his wife gets his dream job and drags him halfway around the globe. World travelers and armchair tourists alike will marvel as Greg and Dana dine with royalty, smash an immigrant smuggling ring, flee angry mobs, foil a terrorist plot and survive a Russian rocket assault. When they adopt an Indian girl, Greg embarks on an altogether new career, and India becomes a part of their lives forever.
and far away
After decades in intelligence the Man was tired and retired, yet they kept calling back.
Queer Diplomacy: A Transgender Journey in the Foreign Service
Join Robyn McCutcheon, an out and proud transgender woman, on her journey as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State. Follow her on travels that took her through the Soviet Union as a historian, to the stars as an engineer in the Hubble Space Telescope project, and onward to Russia, Romania, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan as a Foreign Service Officer representing her country on everything from human rights to nuclear arms control.
A Jew in Gaza: Memoir: Humanitarian Heartbreak, Hubris and Horrors
A nonfiction narrative/memoir of living in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories in 2022 and 2023, through repeated conflicts and escalations, up to, including and beyond the October 7 attack on Israel and the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza.
Midnight in Moscow: A Memoir from the Front Lines of Russia's War Against the West
A memoir of service by the American ambassador who was on the diplomatic front lines when Putin invaded Ukraine, Midnight in Moscow is the first behind-the-scenes account of how U.S.-Russia relations hit their nadir—and a playbook for our unfolding confrontation.