Friday, February 10, 2012

Can The State Department Learn From The Department Of Defense?

What Diplomats Can Learn From The Military -- Michael Rubin, Commentary

I’m spending the week in frigid Wiesbaden, where the V Corps is preparing to take over the mission in Afghanistan. As is often the case, there is much more learning outside the classroom than inside it. Indeed, there are few organizations in government as dedicated to learning as the U.S. military. The State Department may have its Foreign Service Institute where diplomats can take classes to prepare for new jobs, but in embassies and the State Department, learning does not occur on a day-to-day basis as it does in the military.

Read more ....

My Comment: The culture of the State Department is .... I suspect .... very different from the culture of the military .... and because of that they will not learn. But in all fairness .... the budget for the U.S. Department of Defense is wayyyy more than what the U.S. State Department's is, and their involvement (US Department of Defense) on the international scene usually entails an approach that we can say is .... not diplomatic.

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