| Abstract: | This article is a retrospective on the author' diplomatic career mainly up to the time of his first ambassadorial appointment in 1975. Besides detailing aspects of his career including the special circumstances of his first appointment, it reveals something of the nature of foreign service as an occupation. The white South African experience had points in common with that of other foreign services as well as points of difference. A major difference was the permanently embattled nature of the government's international relations. Another was that white South Africa was a divided society. Tensions within white society as a whole tended to be reflected in the foreign service. |
