Art of Diplomacy

Stuart E. Eizenstat has served as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union and Deputy Secretary of both Treasury and State. He is also the author of President Carter: The White House Years (2018), The Future of the Jews: How Global Forces are Impacting the Jewish People, Israel, and Its Relationship with the United States (2012), and Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II (2003). He is an international lawyer in Washington, DC.

A former U.S. ambassador to the E.U. lays out a useful roadmap to successful international negotiations. Negotiations are a crucial part of statecraft, writes Eizenstat. In his latest book, the author aims to distill key events in U.S. negotiations into lessons for the next generation of diplomats and students. In some of the cases, Eizenstat had direct involvement; regarding others, he studied the records closely and interviewed the participants. As any diplomat will tell you, an essential ingredient in a successful negotiation is preparation. You must understand what the other side wants and how far they will go to get it. In the case of American negotiators, they must be clear about their own objectives while also maintaining the support of the Oval Office. Both sides have to be willing to give something, but they must also be able to walk away with something they can claim as a victory, if only a partial one. The point is not defeating an opponent but finding a workable consensus. Eizenstat identifies a failure to follow through on agreements as a recurring weakness of U.S. diplomacy over the decades. Sometimes, the failure arises due to domestic political circumstances; sometimes, it involves the mistaken view that adding signatures to a piece of paper is an end in itself and will solve all problems. Eizenstat hopes that future negotiators will address these shortcomings. “Successful international negotiations require putting aside historic enmities, hatreds, and prejudices, and reasoning together to reach durable, if painful, compromises,” he writes. ... He provides a valuable primer for those with an interest in this field. Eizenstat covers a lot of ground, writing with the authority and clarity of experience.

• ContentsForeword by Henry A. KissingerPreface by James A. Baker IIIIntroduction: The Value of DiplomacyPart One: The U.S. and National Security1: Henry Kissinger: Master Diplomat2: German Reunification: James Baker Adds Two Plus Four3: Iran: Negotiating with a Radical TheocracyPart Two: The U.S. As Mediator4: The Middle East: From Camp David to the Abraham Accords5: Good Friday: George Mitchell and the Repair of a Divided Ireland6: The Holocaust: Belated and Imperfect Justice7: Unsung Heroes: Chester Crocker and Bernie AronsonPart Three: The U.S. at War8: The Balkan Wars: The Marriage of Force and Diplomacy9: Afghanistan: From Victory to Failure10: Iraq: A Tale of Two WarsPart Four: The U.S. in Multilateral Negotiations11: International Trade: Negotiating at Home and Abroad12: Climate Change: The Supreme Test of DiplomacyConclusion: Lessons on the Art of DiplomacyNotesAcknowledgmentsIndexAbout the Author