FAO Quotables

"But being right, even morally right, isn't everything. It is also important to be competent, to be consistent, and to be knowledgeable. It's important for your soldiers and diplomats to speak the language of the people you want to influence. It's important to understand the ethnic and tribal divisions of the place you hope to assist."
-Anne Applebaum

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Importance of writing for Foreign Area Officers (FAOs) and what to read with a Rye Manhattan

I was looking back over my notes from Aidan Hartley's The Zanzibar Chest and was reminded of why my insignificant single blog IS significant when viewed collectively.  If we as the FAO community aren't sharing our analysis and thoughts from our experiences (and the books, articles we read), then we are not doing our jobs...we are sucking, wasteful black holes accomplishing nothing. 

On a lighter note, my well-traveled grandmother (self-dubbed as Granny Nanny Darling to be specific), a former marine and peace corps officer, just finished Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness which she recommends pairing with a Rye Manhattan (with a frozen Michigan cherry biensur).  This is the memoir of a girl growing up in Kenya (among other things of course) and I just added it to my amazon wish list.  Granny Nanny Darling plucked this gem from the book which sold me on it: 

A good host should never ask if their guest would like another drink, they should ask if 'they would like the other half.'

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