I'd encourage you to look at reading lists that are compiled for people who work for the American Foreign Service Association. (AFSA) afsa.org


The most basic one you can read is probably "Diplomacy" by H. Kissinger.

"The Clash of Civilizations" by S. Huntington is excellent.

"Prisoners of Geography: The Maps that Explain Everything" by T. Marshall is a fun read.

"The Tragedy of Great Power Politics" by J. Mearsheimer is great.

Beyond that it's a rabbit hole.


The more realistic and practical option is to get some popcorn and watch "Spies Like Us" with C. Chase and D. Aykroyd.

Because if you're a pilot (like me) this stuff is way, WAY beyond our paygrade and your vote is exactly equal to that of a meth-head who stumbled into a voting booth thinking there was free crack inside, passed out, but hit the "vote" button on the way down.

(One of my profs in college was a FSO. I had no idea what that was. Pity. It's like the CIA, only not evil. Probably.)