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Realities of Foreign Service Life Vol. 1

Realities of Foreign Service Life Vol. 2

Realities of Foreign Service Life, Volumes 1 and 2: Writers from the Foreign Service community share their first-hand experiences and insights through essays on Foreign Service life. A great gift for newcomers or veterans of the Foreign Service and especially useful for anyone considering a Foreign Service career! Read more about Realities of Foreign Service Life here and order your copy!

 

Researching Overseas Posts

Livelines members can access or add even more links at the Livelines Yahoo Groups page.

State Department Resources

http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/
The Family Liaison Office of the Department of State offers a wide variety of publications regarding State Department procedures.  Many are downloadable at the FLO page of the State Department website.  For an overview of State Department services for family members visit our State Department Resources section.

http://www.state.gov/m/fsi/tc/c10391.htm
List of bidding resources from the Overseas Briefing Center at the Department of State. For more information about the OBC, please visit this page.

http://www.state.gov/m/fsi/tc/c9649.htm
List of publications available at the Overseas Briefing Center, including the Foreign Service Assignment Notebook.

http://logistics.state.gov/
"It's Your Move" the State Department's guide to official transfers. Use the password LOGISTICS to enter the site and click "Travel and Moving" on the navigation bar.

http://www.state.gov/m/fsi/tc/c10442.htm
Pet travel information from the Overseas Briefing Center.

http://www.state.gov/m/a/gps/directory/
Several useful State Department telephone directories are available online in PDF format. Includes key officers at overseas posts.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
The State Department issues Background Notes on each country in which the U.S. has an official presence.

http://travel.state.gov/
The State Department maintains updated travel warnings on various countries.

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/
2003 Human Rights Reports from the Department of State.

http://foia.state.gov/REGS/Search.asp
The Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) and Foreign Affairs Handbook. 

http://www.state.gov/m/a/als/c1843.htm
The State Department's Standardized Regulations (DSSR).

http://www.gsa.gov/ftr
Federal travel regulations from the General Services Administration.

http://www.state.gov/m/a/os/
The U.S. State Department's Office of Overseas Schools. Resources for students, parents, and teachers. Find schools in any country. For a summary of services, please visit our State Department Resources section.

Other Post Research Resources

http://www.realpostreports.com
Reviews of cities all over the world written by those "on the ground." This website was founded by American diplomatic family members and many of the post reports are written by U.S. Embassy community members.

http://ediplomat.com/
This site offers edited versions of the official State Department post reports.

http://oig.state.gov/lbry/
Reports from the Office of the Inspector General on the state of various posts around the world. Focus on embassy functions, post morale, and relations with the host country.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
The Library of Congress Country Studies are now available online.  Each volume deals with an individual country "describing and analyzing its political, economic, social, and national security systems and institutions, and examining the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors."

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
The CIA World Factbook is a good reference when researching posts for employment or other factors.