Attaché Case: Backstage at the Embassy

"The Kitchen Confidential of the State Department."

You've seen them on the news, looking competent and concerned in their navy suits. They're in Beijing, Riyadh, Nairobi, Geneva, and of course Washington, DC. They look uneasy on camera. When they speak (which is as little as possible), it's with caution, hemmed in by protocol and the fear of causing an incident.

These are the diplomats.

Opening up a famously tight-lipped profession, State Department veteran Todd Pierce takes you backstage at ...