Are U.S. Foreign Service officers an endangered breed? They fear the State Department wants to define them away. This is one thrust of a new report from the American Academy of Diplomacy.(...)The risk comes from political appointees encroaching on their turf and State confusing the roles of FSOs and civil service employees, according to the Academy. 

Much news in the press about recent ambassadorial nominees who haven't been to the country where they were selected to serve (see also the hilarious satirical video and the excellent piece by Ambassador Robert J. Callahan, "Plum posts if you can afford them: End the auction of ambassadorships").