Your Diplomats at Work: a Comedy in Seven Acts

This book is an account of the author's sometimes comical, sometimes frustrating, but always enlightening adventures as a diplomat in seven countries. As a former academic who had worked and traveled in some sixty countries of the world before joining the Foreign Service, Huffman provides trenchant commentary on the history, culture, and political situation in each country. Written with a light touch, the book critiques some of the stifling bureaucracy and resultant inefficiency of the U. S. Department of State, along with practical recommendations for improvement. In the Prologue he describes the circuitous route by which a Virginia farm boy became a professor and diplomat. This brief introductory account of the first fifty years of the author's life establishes his credentials. Your Diplomats at Work is a richly detailed memoir of the author's varied experiences across two careers.