Modern Age - Fall 2014 - 41

ESSAY

WHAT U.S. FOREIGN SERVICE
OFFICERS SHOULD KNOW
Angelo M. Codevilla

F

oreign service officers represent the
United States of America. The substance
of what is to be represented having become
problematic in our time, we must preface our
consideration of officers' duties with a look at
why it has become so, and of the choices in
that regard.
History offers no shortage of envoys who
went on to represent their country after revo-
lution had replaced the institutions, interests,
and objectives for which they had accepted
the post originally. Often these diplomats
were simply dismissed. If not, they were
given the choice of justifying things repug-
nant to them or resigning. Dismissal is what
happened to Jean Baptiste Ternant in 1793,
after the overthrow of King Louis XVI, who
had appointed him minister plenipotentiary
to the United States in 1791. The official
who dismissed him, Charles Maurice de Tal-
leyrand, who served all his country's regimes
from 1792 to 1834 (antithetical as these were
to one another during revolutions), is the

prime example of a diplomat with a strong
stomach.
One may argue equally that Talleyrand's
grip on office reflected faithfulness to his
country's permanent interests combined
with faith that none of the revolutions had
altered them, or that it reflected a shamefully
easy conscience in the service of personal
interest.
What, after all, was France? What is any
country? It is always a set of people in a place,
with an interest in not being governed by
foreigners and in having a more rather than a
less advantageous position vis à vis those for-
eigners. All countries have some institutions
and traditions that give them their specific
identity. Before 1789, France had a monar-
chy attached to the Catholic Church. People
swore allegiance to the kings. The Church
was one of the kings' many appurtenances.
But since that time, France has had republics
and emperors, more or less secular, to which
Frenchmen have sworn allegiance as well.

Angelo M. Codevilla is professor emeritus of international relations at Boston University. A former U.S. naval
officer and foreign service officer, he also served on the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Codevilla is
the author of thirteen books, including War Ends and Means, Informing Statecraft, The Ruling Class, Advice to
War Presidents, and A Student's Guide to International Relations (ISI Books).
41



Modern Age - Fall 2014

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