Diplomacy Lessons: Realism for an Unloved Superpower

by John Brady Kiesling

Book Overview

John Brady Kiesling, a twenty-year veteran of the foreign service, publicly resigned his position as political counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Athens in February 2003 to protest the Bush administration's impending invasion of Iraq. He believed that the security, economic, and moral costs of this war, including the blackening of America's image abroad, would far outweigh any benefit to the American people. In Diplomacy Lessons, Kiesling reminds...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1597971103
• ISBN13: 9781597971102
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Potomac Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Topically current, with long term wisdom.

This is the BEST BOOK I have ever read on real world diplomacy. The combination of his feet on the ground experience and clear eyed view of American diplomacy is most powerful. I started writing down pithy, pertinent quotations as I read it through the second time, but I filled up too many notebook pages. Perhaps it will be best to read it yet again! Here are a few: "A politician who obeys the dictates of a hostile superpower is toast." "..local nationalism and resistance to outsiders trumps the call of ideology or religion." "Someone whose ego has been sandblasted by the humiliations of learning a language successfully from scratch as an adult is bettter at risking the reciprocal vulnerability required for relationship building."

A great lesson practical diplomacy

Brady is an old college friend of mine, and I was eager to buy his book when the security-clearance guys let it out. I was not disappointed. Brady tells a good story, and has some good stories to tell. Through his many examples of diplomatic life and diplomatic problems, he provides an insightful analysis how foreign policy is really implemented on the ground--and how it can easily fail. While the US may have enough brute force to demand things and bully other countries into complying, the costs we pay for such behavior (in future hostility and non-cooperation) are high. For example: our earlier bullying over the Iraq invasion and the International Criminal Court have left us with few allies at a time when we really need international help to bail us out of the mess we face in Iraq. Intelligent diplomacy offers alternative to out-and-out bullying, and would have been useful back in 2002. Brady is a intelligent and witty writer. Some of the security clearance redacts also provide unwitting humor. For example: will we ever know what John Bolton's unsavory bureaucratic habits suggest?

Any who would understand modern world issues and interactions must have DIPLOMACY LESSONS.

Author John Brady Kiesling was a political counselor of the U.S. embassy in Athens, but resigned in 2003 to protest the Bush administration's forthcoming invasion of Iraq. DIPLOMACY LESSONS: REALISM FOR AN UNLOVED SUPERPOWER surveys the methods and processes of American diplomacy overseas, providing background history, and surveys of changing strategies, ideas on how it works and sometimes - especially lately - fails. Any who would understand modern world issues and interactions must have DIPLOMACY LESSONS. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

Diplomacy Lessons by John Brady Kiesling

John Brady Kiesling's Diplomacy Lessons are exactly what they say they are, and nowhere have I seen a clearer explanation of how America has gone wrong in its dealings with the rest of the world. The latter, it appears, is far more intricate and in need of care than the current administration would have us believe. On the contrary, the skill and wisdom with which our career diplomats interact with foreigners is a primary factor optimizing our place in the world and in all that serves the best interests of America. Playing fast and loose these past five years with so essential and hard-won a system of good will and reciprocity has been an incalculable blunder. Kiesling carefully explains, often by citing examples from his own long experience in Greece and elsewhere, the principles of effective diplomacy and how we might regain our footing through smarter behavior. His book should be required reading for anyone concerned with foreign policy and, indeed, it promises to be a fine gift for that favorite smirking blowhard who thinks he understands the world.

A public American voice of which we can be proud. A hero who can tell his story with humility, pa

Nearly every page has nuggets of insight cleverly embedded in examples that kept me smiling through my tears. Genuine honorable patriotism - that's what invoked my tears of awe. It's a wonder to have a public American to be proud of. Brady Keisling is one. All honor to him. Brady Keisling's voice deserves the widest possible audience. Americans can be so proud of his courage. Keisling's advice and history needs to be heard by those who can use it to save-or salvage U.S. respect abroad. Brady deserves a spot on the high level team of advisors to the next administration. And we deserve to be represented by his impeccable devotion to a better world. Secretary of State is probably too bureaucratic a slot, but whoever that is should listen very very closely to what Brady Keisling has to say. He's got the'brains, humility, skepticism and commitment' (what he says a real leader needs) as well as a dazzling command of language and the finest standards of true patriotism.