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As governments and universities seek to prepare the next generation of diplomats to manage international affairs, they finally have a teaching tool focusing on the practical knowledge and skills that in the past could be learned only on the job.
Published by Cambridge University Press and edited and co-written by Nicholas Kralev, WIDA’s founder, “Diplomatic Tradecraft” brings together 18 career diplomats with decades of experience to lift the curtain on a mysterious but vital profession, and to pass on the insights and abilities they gained to those who will succeed them.
With compelling narratives, case studies and exercises, the chapters on various aspects of diplomatic practice form a cohesive and comprehensive volume, written in an accessible and engaging style.
Praise for 'Diplomatic Tradecraft'
“Nicholas Kralev has assembled a group of superbly qualified practitioners to relate from personal experience manifold perspectives of diplomatic conduct and practice. They offer us the kind of ground truth about diplomacy that cannot be found in ivory towers. This is a very practical guide for those interested in better understanding the workings of our profession.”
John Negroponte, former U.S. deputy secretary of state and former permanent representative to the United Nations
“An indispensable tool, ‘Diplomatic Tradecraft’ encourages bright, eager-to-learn minds to enter the diplomatic field. It helps to develop complex skills in new generations of Foreign Service officers and facilitates understanding of a profession that is too often hidden behind clichés, stereotypes or misconceptions.”
Cristina Gallach, former U.N. undersecretary general and former deputy foreign minister of Spain
“Kralev has done more than anyone else to understand what diplomats — and American diplomats in particular — actually do. It is a world quite apart from the abstract removes of international relations theorists. In this volume, he draws on a team of outstanding veteran diplomats. Topic by topic, they not only review the character of the work; they share lifetimes of insights about how to do it. There is no better introduction currently in print. It deserves to become a standard text for would-be professionals, starting with America’s own trainees.”
Philip Zelikow, senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and former counselor of the State Department
“It’s not simply that we have more armed conflict in today’s world. It’s also that these fights involve so many governments, each with its idiosyncratic political culture and its unique set of interests. This is why the world so badly needs more thoughtful and expertly trained diplomats, and why Kralev’s ‘Diplomatic Tradecraft’ is such a valuable addition to their education and ongoing work.”
Ian Bremmer, president and founder of the Eurasia Group
“Kralev has devoted much of his career to improving and developing the practice of diplomacy, and to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. Foreign Service and our national security agencies. In this superb book, he brings together perspectives and recommendations from some of the greatest diplomatic leaders and thinkers that our country has produced.”
Eric Rubin, former U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria and former president of the American Foreign Service Association
“This book presents an illuminating inside look at all aspects of diplomatic service through a student-centric approach. The knowledge and wisdom of 18 career diplomats embedded in this volume provide a comprehensive and engaging experiential learning environment for readers to develop skills necessary for future diplomatic service and for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
Baktybek Abdrisaev, lecturer at Utah Valley University and former Kyrgyz ambassador to the United States and Canada
“Kralev’s comprehensive and lively volume is a much needed addition to the literature on the making of U.S. foreign policy. The book should be required reading for all aspiring U.S. Foreign Service officers, as well as required reading in university courses on international relations and American foreign policy. It’s the best reality-based study of diplomacy I’ve read.”
Derek Shearer, professor of diplomacy at Occidental College and former U.S. ambassador to Finland
“This is an elegantly written and thorough introduction to diplomacy in practice. Timely and lucid, free of jargon and salted with memorable and revealing anecdotes, it’s a pleasure to read. The authors have taken a complex and tangled profession and made its essentials clear, digestible and memorable. They have also taken the trouble to give budding diplomats concrete and actionable career advice. This book will be invaluable to academics trying to help our students begin careers in a profession almost as confusing to us as it is to them.”
Richard Jordan, assistant professor of political science at Baylor University
Book Details
Foreword: What Is Diplomatic Tradecraft?
1. The Diplomatic Landscape
2. Diplomacy As an Instrument of Statecraft
3. Key Diplomacy Skills
4. The Interagency Foreign Policy Process
5. How Does an Embassy Work?
6. Political Tradecraft
7. Economic Tradecraft and Commercial Diplomacy
8. Diplomatic Reporting and Communication
9. Public Diplomacy
10. Consular Affairs and Crisis Management
11. Diplomatic Protocol, Privileges and Immunities
12. Multilateral Diplomacy
13. Health and Science Diplomacy
14. Cyber Diplomacy
15. Diplomatic Negotiation
Afterword: Diplomacy Is the World’s Best Hope
Glossary of Terms
Acronyms
Nicholas Kralev is the founding executive director of the Washington International Diplomatic Academy. A former Financial Times and Washington Times correspondent specializing in diplomacy and foreign affairs, he covered and accompanied U.S. Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright on their travels around the world. His other books include “America’s Other Army” and “Diplomats in the Trenches.” He holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School.
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Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley is a former U.S. ambassador to Malta, consul-general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and deputy coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department. During more than three decades as a career diplomat, she also served in Iraq, Egypt, Israel and Indonesia. She was the department’s first chief diversity officer.
Jeffrey DeLaurentis is a former U.S. alternate representative at the United Nations and chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba. During his 27-year Foreign Service career, he was posted to Geneva and Colombia, and also served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.
Tressa Rae Finerty has been a U.S. Foreign Service officer in the political career track since 2002, with postings to Malaysia, Iraq, Armenia and Thailand, as well as to the United Nations in New York and Geneva. Most recently, she served as the State Department’s deputy executive secretary.
Nicole Finnemann has been a U.S. Foreign Service officer in the public diplomacy career track since 2011, with postings in Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Mexico and Spain. She also served as head of strategic communications for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department.
Chas W. Freeman is a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and deputy chief of mission in China and Thailand. During nearly three decades in the Foreign Service, he was also principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs and assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.
Daniel Fried is a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. During his four decades in the Foreign Service, he was ambassador to Poland and also served in Russia and Serbia, as well as senior director for European affairs on the National Security Council staff.
Janice Jacobs is a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, and deputy chief of mission in the Dominican Republic. During her 34-year Foreign Service career, she was also posted to Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Mexico, Nigeria and Thailand.
Jimmy Kolker is a former U.S. assistant secretary for global affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. During his 30-year Foreign Service career, he was ambassador to Uganda and Burkina Faso and deputy chief of mission in Denmark and Botswana.
Lisa Kubiske is a former U.S. ambassador to Honduras and deputy chief of mission in Brazil and the Dominican Republic. During 35 years in the Foreign Service, she also served in Mexico, China and Hong Kong, and was deputy assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs.
David Lindwall is a former U.S. deputy chief of mission in Sweden, Afghanistan, Haiti and Guatemala, and consul-general in Guayaquil, Ecuador. During his 34-year Foreign Service career, he was also posted to Iraq, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Honduras, Spain and Colombia.
Thomas R. Pickering is a former U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs and assistant secretary of state for oceans and environmental affairs. During more than four decades in the Foreign Service, he was also ambassador to the United Nations, Russia, India, Israel, Jordan, Nigeria and El Salvador.
Charles Ray is a former U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe and Cambodia, deputy chief of mission in Sierra Leone, and consul-general in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He is a retired U.S. Army officer, who also served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for prisoners of war and missing personnel affairs.
Eunice Reddick is a former U.S. ambassador to Niger, Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe. She spent 37 years in the Foreign Service and also served in Zimbabwe, China and Taiwan. Most recently, she was chargé d’affaires in Burundi.
Douglas Silliman is a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Kuwait and deputy chief of mission in Turkey. During his 35-year Foreign Service career, he also served in Jordan, Pakistan, Tunisia and Haiti, as well as in several senior positions in Washington.
John Tefft is a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Lithuania. During his 45 years in the Foreign Service, he also served in Italy, Hungary and Israel, and as a deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.
Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar is a former ambassador-at-large for cyber diplomacy at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as a former chief cyber policy coordinator for the European External Action Service and cyber security policy adviser at NATO.
Bruce Wharton is a former U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, former acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, and deputy chief of mission in Guatemala. During his 35 years in the Foreign Service, he also served in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and South Africa.
James Zumwalt is a former U.S. ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau and deputy chief of mission in Japan. He was also deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and served in China and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- The book offers instructors a systematic and insightful approach to teaching diplomacy that gives students a realistic, in-depth understanding of careers in the field.
- Treats students as entry-level diplomats and teaches them specific skills and competences to prepare them for the demands of the diplomatic world.
- Presents a realistic view of both the advantages and shortcomings of the current diplomacy system and offers specific advice on how to navigate it in order to help students better understand what diplomacy can and cannot achieve, and to make informed career decisions.
1. The Diplomatic Landscape
A country’s diplomatic service is the steward of its national interests abroad. Both bilateral and multilateral diplomats manage and participate in the daily conduct of international relations. In carrying out their duties, they work within a diplomacy architecture — systems that have been established at the national and global levels. Before we discuss these systems, we need to understand how diplomacy relates to other key terms and concepts, such as national interest, national security and foreign policy.
2. Diplomacy as an Instrument of Statecraft
Diplomacy is a political performing art that informs and determines the decisions of other states and peoples. It shapes their perceptions and calculations, so that they do what we want them to do, because they come to see that doing so is in their own best interest. Sometimes diplomacy rearranges their appraisal of their strategic circumstances — and when needed, the circumstances themselves. Ultimately, it aims to influence their policies and behavior through measures short of war.
3. Key Diplomacy Skills
Diplomacy skills matter, and the widespread perception that anyone with common sense can be trusted with a diplomatic position, even without proper qualifications, is misguided and dangerous. This chapter covers the key aspects of diplomatic tradecraft, on which the rest of the book elaborates and expounds. They include empathy, language ability, intellectual curiosity, analytical skills, communication (writing, listening, public speaking and cross-cultural communication), judgment, creativity, interpersonal skills, advocacy and negotiation.
4. The Interagency Foreign Policy Process
Diplomats work in large and complex bureaucracies, in which structures, duties, responsibilities and authorities should be clearly defined — the alternative is a recipe for chaos at best and disaster at worst. The U.S. government uses the term “interagency” to describe both a structure and a mechanism through which policies are supposed to be developed, debated and presented to relevant Cabinet members, who head executive departments, and ultimately to the president for decision.
5. How Does an Embassy Work?
A diplomatic mission is an organization like no other. Its members live and work away from home, and the line between their professional and personal lives is blurred to an extent most outsiders do not fully understand or appreciate. The chief of mission has not only authority over almost everyone at post, but also responsibility for their security and well-being. So managing such a workplace is a unique and daunting task, made even more difficult by being in a foreign country.
6. Political Tradecraft
Political tradecraft is a set of duties, responsibilities and skills required of diplomats who work in political affairs. It is the main instrument in the diplomatic tradecraft toolbox, which also includes economic tradecraft, commercial diplomacy, consular affairs and public diplomacy, among other tools. Political officers work both at diplomatic missions abroad and at headquarters, such as their ministry of foreign affairs or the State Department. Those who rise to the most senior positions in their ministry or department also take part in the policymaking process.
7. Economic Tradecraft and Commercial Diplomacy
Economic tradecraft is a set of duties, responsibilities and skills required of diplomats working in economic affairs. Economic officers inform policy-making at headquarters by monitoring and analyzing economic trends and developments in the receiving state. They also advocate for host-government policies aimed at leveling the playing field for companies from the home country. Commercial diplomats directly help industries and individual companies in starting or expanding business and investment in the host-country.
8. Diplomatic Reporting and Communication
Throughout their careers, diplomats — especially reporting officers — must make quick choices about how to provide their government with needed information. This involves the proper and efficient use of language, technology and format to reach the respective target audience. This chapter will try to give you a sense about how to do that, starting with how to convey information to your capital from abroad — in other words, how to report. We will show you how to structure, write, edit and distribute diplomatic cables.
9. Public Diplomacy
Public diplomacy is diplomacy carried out in public, as opposed to most of diplomacy, which is done in private. It is a set of activities that inform, engage and influence international public opinion to support policy objectives or create goodwill for the home country. It is a sustained endeavor that advances your country’s policies and reflects a solid understanding of the host-country’s language, culture, history and traditions. It is not propaganda, though both public diplomacy and propaganda are means to project power.
10. Consular Affairs and Crisis Management
Consular work is perhaps the best example of diplomacy with a human touch, because consular officers touch people’s lives around the world every day, often in moments of great need, trauma or desperation. They serve on the front lines of diplomacy, guarding against threats far away from the home country’s physical borders. Consular matters affect every bilateral relationship, and their impact is felt globally. Consular work will test you as an individual, including your ability to empathize while fairly applying laws and procedures.
11. Diplomatic Protocol, Privileges and Immunities
Diplomatic protocol is a system of standards, rules and regulations governing the conduct of international relations. It brings order and predictability to the work of diplomats by providing a roadmap or framework, so they can focus on the substance of negotiations and high-stakes decisions. While tradition has always had a special place in diplomacy, protocol’s role is hardly limited to old-fashioned pomp and circumstance. It has practical aspects meant to make diplomatic work more effective.
12. Multilateral Diplomacy
Multilateral diplomacy is defined as the management of relations among three or more nation-states, both within and outside of international organizations. The main value of multilateral diplomacy is its ability to reduce the complexity of international relations in everyday life, including traveling, sending mail and solving crimes across borders. It produces agreements that are much more practical and less costly than a web of bilateral arrangements between individual countries.
13. Health and Science Diplomacy
Health and science diplomacy is the activity of deploying international cooperation in the service of science and public health, and using global health and science efforts to achieve foreign-policy goals. As a bridge between the scientific community and decision-makers in government, a science or health diplomat must understand the work of both and, ideally, how they think. They must incorporate the evidence into persuasive arguments that can influence policymakers to elevate the potential threat as a priority and take action.
14. Cyber Diplomacy
Actions in cyberspace by governments, businesses, NGOs and other players have become part of international relations and international security. Those actions reflect countries’ national interests and affect their bilateral and multilateral diplomatic relationships. This has led to the rise of cyber diplomacy, the activity of deploying international cooperation in cyberspace and using actions in cyberspace to achieve foreign-policy goals. The main focus of cyber diplomacy is trying to forge a way to regulate state behavior and prevent and regulate conflict in cyberspace.
15. Diplomatic Negotiation
What makes diplomatic negotiation different from other negotiations is that it takes place between or among nation-states through their representatives, and the stakes are usually higher than those in a domestic context. In addition, while other types of negotiation tend to be mostly transactional, negotiating in diplomacy cannot be isolated from the overall relationship with the other party. A truly successful diplomatic negotiation is one that not only resolves an immediate problem, but ensures that the state of relations with the other side will serve one’s interests in the long run.