Students of diplomacy have provided several accounts of changing dynamics in contemporary diplomatic practice, but comparatively little in-depth empirical studies have been conducted on the extent of change and adaptation within specific national diplomatic services. This paper seeks to contribute to this avenue of research through a case study of the United States Foreign Service. Using analytical tools from cultural sociology and the sociology of professions, the paper provides detailed findings on the way U.S. career diplomats define, whether explicitly or through their daily practices, their professional identity. These findings suggest that, by and large, American career diplomats uphold a traditional conception of diplomatic work and of their place within the U.S. foreign affairs bureaucracy. The empirical data is drawn from field interviews with Foreign Service officers and other foreign affairs personnel of the U.S. government, as well as other primary source material.
