Writing

Writing better resumes (for Foreign Service Officers and other State Department employees)

Resume advice for Foreign Service Officers and other State Department employees.

What the Radio and TV Propaganda Panics Can Tell Us About AI

AI propaganda is a real threat. The history of radio and television propaganda shows which parts of it deserve our alarm.

A Private-Sector Job Primer for FSOs and Other State Department Denizens

Blind spots Foreign Service Officers hit on the way to private-sector jobs or consulting: titles, P&L roles, equity, rate setting, and who to work for.

What is a Diplomat's Job Description?

Where do your diplomatic dollars go?

Reading the FY2027 State Department Budget

The President’s request, the House levels, and how the accounts changed, in charts.

Back to the Analog: AI and the Future of Public Diplomacy

A conversation on Public Diplomacy Examined (IPDGC, GW) about what AI changes in diplomacy — and what it makes more valuable than ever.

What is "AI-Powered Diplomacy" anyway?

You Got Promoted. Now What? An Adaptive Leadership Guide to Career Transition

The skills that got you promoted are often the ones that will undermine you next. This is a guide to the three career transitions that change what effectiveness means — from individual contributor to manager, from manager to leader of leaders, and the inner work that makes the difference.

Why your weekly 1:1 has compounding benefits

Themes Are Not Feedback

Feedback built on aggregated impressions — "multiple people have raised concerns" — strips away everything that makes feedback useful. The research is clear: effective feedback is specific, actionable, and timely.

Document Feedback Reference Sheet

Why Feedback Order Matters: A System for Document Review

Getting Started with GenAI.mil - Dec 2025 Edition

Prompt: Reputation Audit

How to Stop Wasting Hours on Slides: A Step-by-Step Guide to MARP

Building a PKM with Obsidian and Claude: A Practical Guide

BCL Bot v0.1: An AI Briefing Checklist Drafter

Where to start with AI as a Diplomat? - September 2025 Edition

AI continues to grow at a dizzying pace. This beginner's guide helps diplomats get familiar with AI tools, regardless of their current proficiency.

Making Sense of Complexity: How Diplomats Can Use the Cynefin Framework

The Cynefin framework offers a diagnostic tool that helps leaders and teams recognize which type of challenge they face and select appropriate strategies for each context.

Expo Osaka 2025: Spain's Pavilion

First-hand review of Spain’s pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka—design, audience, programming, partnerships, and takeaways, with photos from the visit.

28 Core Competencies for Public Diplomacy Success

The 28 core competencies for public diplomacy across five elements—policy, audiences, planning, management, and learning—to guide practitioner growth.

What is a McLuhan Tetrad, and how do you use it?

What is a media tetrad or a McLuhan Tetrad?

NatSec AI, Expos, and Better Diplomacy

The big AI news this week is OpenAI's $200m contract with the Pentagon. The figure overshadowed some other important news from last week: Amazon Bedrock and Claude are now FedRAMP High.

Understanding PD Foundations: Modern Diplomatic Tradecraft

How developing PD Foundations at the State Department created a systematized diplomatic tradecraft and gave practitioners a unified framework for excellence.

What Makes a Good Expo Pavilion?

This post focuses on what makes a good Expo pavilion, introducing a simple analysis framework and then diving in with a favorite example from Expo Dubai 2020.

New beginnings

Expo 2025 Pavilions: An Index of Reviews

Browse an index of Expo 2025 Osaka pavilion reviews—with a simple evaluation framework and links to detailed write-ups like Spain.

AI on a grey Friday 🌧️

You found the Easter Egg, either the first time or the second. So what is this, anyway?

At the Crossroads of Tradition and Innovation with AI

Making AI work for diplomats at the State Department requires challenging the culture that underlies the department’s siloed structure.