I left State not quite three years ago. I'm very well versed in the Retief novels, Heinlein and Dickenson, Asimov and Delaney, thank you very much. Got the message; applied the message, including in places like Syria.

And, believe it or not, there are conservatives and Republicans in State, though they're clearly outnumbered.

John,

There are always outstanding individuals. What I'm looking for is a department wide system with the reading list public.

That reminds me of the Diplomad and Dr. Demarche, plus the Republican Underground at the State Dept.! Ahh, what fun reading the Diplomad... so sorry that they had to go as they were getting pressure from inside State, it appears. Their work on the 2004 tsunami and the UN in 5 star hotels was excellent. Nothing could be done before the exploratory committee to form the initial committee had been done settled in and then deciding on just what the luncheon menu would be... no need to hurry, the disaster wasn't going anywhere!

The good Dr. Demarche still shows up on Austin Bay now and again.

RIP Keith Laumer, you wrote better than you will ever know with Retief and the Bolos.

The first time I picked up a Retief novel, I flipped to the line describing the purpose of diplomacy: maintenance of a state of tension short of war. Did I guffaw!