Pride Flag Pause By Phil Skotte Last June I served my last posting as a senior U.S. Diplomat at one of our embassies in eastern Europe. This was a conservative religious country deeply supportive of Ukraine’s fight against Russia. At breakfast one morning, our Deputy Chief of Mission (second to the Ambassador) asked me
Wanted: A Renewed Focus on Diplomatic and, especially, Consular Competence By Phil Skotte It is difficult to measure success or failure at the State Department. We do not win or lose battles like the military. We do not increase or decrease our bottom-line profit like businesses. Our students, if we had them, do not perform
Speaking Out BY PHIL SKOTTE When I served in Moscow I met with the head of Russia’s consular affairs bureau. I have forgotten his name, but will never forget what he told me about his career path. He said that he had served with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 21 years, and that
Continue Reading “Language and Cultural Expertise – Published by the Foreign Service Journal”
Become a Porcupine – The Best and Only Security Guarantee for Ukraine Ukraine has a lot in common with Finland. Both countries were attacked by their huge Russian (or Soviet) neighbor to the east. In both cases, the Russians wanted more space between themselves and potential threats from the west. Finland and Ukraine fought tenaciously
Continue Reading “Porcupine Ukraine – Published by the Ben Franklin Fellowship”
In about 1995, Senator Joe Biden, Jill and one of their children visited the Vatican. I was then a U.S. Diplomat to the Holy See (the Vatican) and accompanied the Biden family on a tour of St Peter’s. On page 87 of “Why Jesus Won’t Go Away,” I recount a story about that visit. Of
My name is Philip J. Skotte, author. I’m so happy to have you as a visitor to my blog about my books. I hope to share some of that excitement with you here. I’ll be using this blog to interact with you, expanding on some of the topics in it and blogging on some of
