"The Kitchen Confidential of the State Department."
"Denial and minimizing are at least 50 percent of diplomacy, and as a gay man raised Catholic in Connecticut, I had those skills down pat."
You've seen them on the news, looking competent and concerned in their navy suits. They're in Beijing, Riyadh, Nairobi, Geneva, and of course Washington, DC. They look uneasy on camera. When they speak (which is as little as possible), it's with caution, hemmed in by protocol and the fear of causing an incident.
These are the diplomats.
Opening up a famously tight-lipped profession, 25-year State Department veteran Todd Pierce takes you backstage at the embassy, sharing what it's like to serve as a working-level diplomat.
Pierce traces his postings around the world, and tells what goes on backstage at the embassy. Sure, there are clashes over policy, but there’s also a visit to a Turkish supermax to visit a detained friend, a career near-death experience on the Acropolis, and a testy exchange, in Rangoon, about the Oscars. There are gaffes galore (usually his own) as he navigates the error-prone translation of one culture for another. There is public diplomacy, illustrated by Tom of Finland.
Find out what a working-level diplomat does every day, and what happens, come evening, at receptions. (Do they really serve Ferrero Rocher chocolates?) What does the US have in common with celebrities? How does the dance between reporters and flacks work, exactly? And what on earth is a minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary?
Funny, revealing, pointed, and deeply human, Attaché Case tells what it feels like to represent the celebrity country-the US-a place everyone thinks they know and has an opinion about.
This is how your diplomacy gets made.
Click HERE to preview a section from the book on Todd's Substack.
Attaché Case: Backstage at the Embassy is available in hardcover, softcover, and ebook editions. Click HERE to buy on Amazon.
