The Ugly American by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick is a very intriguing book that conveys many different stories though out; all leading to the same conclusion. When I began to read this piece of literature, I didn’t think I was its target audience. I felt this book was completely aimed at career Foreign Service Officers, political party members, and other such high ranking government officials. But after having only read a few chapters, I was convinced that I had much to learn from this book, and it was going to prepare me for the following years I will have working at Diplomatic posts abroad.
The story of Louis Sears is about a fictional Ambassador who was assigned as the American Ambassador at the American Embassy in Sarkhan. Sarkhan is a fictional country, that is used to depict a common and universally accepted version of a standard, south-east Asian country. Louis Sears is portrayed as a person who just won’t expand his views and ideologies enough to help America. It is even said by the fictional Louis Kyuptizyn, Russian Ambassador to Sarkhan, that Ambassador Sears is a jewel to communism. That by keeping his people “…tied up with meetings, social events, and greetings and briefings of the scores of… [VIPS] …who come pouring through [Sarkhan] to ‘look for themselves’” that his people don’t have time to be focusing on the greater issues.
I think that this story can be applied to anyone that is assigned to an overseas post, in a diplomatic setting or on military orders. While on assignment we are charged with a very specific job. We can’t get caught up in the social aspects of this line of work. For example, if I were to befriend some of the Foreign Service Officers here then my job could become increasingly difficult. If they would ask me to secure classified for them temporarily, to remember the combinations for their vaults, or other security violations I may feel compelled to do so. Also, while performing an SY inspection, should I find a...