If you want to join the State Department's Foreign Service, you need a solid resume, plenty of time on your hands and the patience of Job. When I joined the Foreign Service back in 2002, Colin Powell spearheaded the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative, which aimed to increase and streamline the hiring process. Ten years later, the Foreign Service selection process for generalists is even longer and more byzantine than it was before.

The murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three colleagues in Benghazi highlights the dangers and hardships our Foreign Service personnel face every day as America’s first line of defense. Our nation’s diplomatic and development personnel are present overseas before the U.S. military is deployed, supports them if they are engaged in combat, and remains in place when the military returns to the United States.

Rocker Andrew W.K. made headlines recently with the quest that ultimately wasn't—his initiative to bring positive partying to Bahrain on behalf of the US State Department. A case of rockers being held down by the man (isn't that what sparked the punk movement?).

The State Department wants your opinion. No, not on weighty matters like the Arab Spring/Winter, relations with Russia, the state of NATO, or Chinese free-trade violations. The pressing question of the day is whether it should rename its blog DipNote.

George Little, the Pentagon spokesperson, appeared to make an important announcement last week, saying "strategic communication" had been banned from the Pentagon's lexicon. Sounded like a good thing; strategic communication was a brainchild of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in full flower of his moment when the Pentagon could not only "do it all," it should "do it all."

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will host 392 Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants from 50 countries for an enrichment workshop in Washington, D.C. from December 13 to 15.

The American Embassy in Nigeria has offered to join the Evergreen initiative which FCMB commenced in Katsina State since 2010 in Partnership with Students In Free Enterprise (an NGO present in universities across the world) and the Service to Humanity Foundation (an NGO founded by Her Excellency, Fatima Ibrahim Shema, First Lady of Katsina state).

The reaction so far to newly proposed State Department guidelines for staff members tweeting in their official capacity about certain subjects has been universally negative. Under the proposed guidelines, obtained by the Diplopundit blog, there could be up to a two-day review ahead of publishing posts on social media sites.