Many thanks indeed. Any insights would be greatly appreciated. For example, I know little other than what Kiesling wrote regarding the DoS corporate culture (though I found his description of DoS as bureaucracy entirely plausible.) Or how DoS and USAID deal with Congress during the budget cycle. (Or do they let the White House do the heavy lifting there?)

I crossposted this on dkos, where it was rescued, and I'm not sure anyone there knows what to make of it. Other than a given issue, usually a humanitarian crisis, nobody in the blogosphere talks about foreign policy. Particularly the nuts and bolts of it. Diplomats, as long as they're active, understandably cannot. So the real experts out there, one we need to hear from most, need to remain silent. Frustrating!

Some months ago, I decided to try to educate myself in these matters, and share what I've picked up along the way.  There's a tremendous amount of material out there, mostly editorial, that I've been wading through and it's a great help that much of that makes it to the web.

Again, thanks. Any material you could steer me in the direction of, please feel free.

"It Can't Be Just About Us"
--Frank Schnittger, ETian Extraordinaire