What is the highest career within the government?

What sort of career paths are available to international relations/ foreign policy majors who don't intend to work for the U.S. Government?

• I'm aware of some of the obvious ones, such as the United Nations and various NGOs. I'm just interested in broadening my options here. I have a serious passion for the field, but increasingly can't see myself working for the State Department or other government agencies.

• Answer:

  Have you checked out http://idealist.org? NGO's, NPO's, intergovernmental organizations, UN and affiliate agencies, and if you have a knack for business (or are willing to learn) international business development might need your expertise to figure out market entry strategies (cause cultural factors need to be considered), consultancy posts for groups like Crisis Watch. Never underestimate your ability to read through tons of papers to reach at a single, concise conclusion and develop and validate a hypothesis. Most people don't have the patience for that.