The Politics of Diplomacy

The book is great, but this one line is worth its weight in gold for those who wonder why we spend $30 billion a yeear on diplomacy, $900 billion a year waging war, $60 billion a year on spies, and less than $600 million on open sources of information in 183 languages we don't speak: "in terms of fine-turning our own work, staying abreast of the press comments was particularly important." page 54. See also:Art of Diplomacy: The American Experience Preparing America's Foreign Policy for the 21st Century The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project) Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It The Eagle's Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World Why the Rest Hates the West: Understanding the Roots of Global Rage High Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them

Though I read this book in 1995, after reading Colin Powell's "My American Journey," and Storming Norman's memoir, it was nice to pick it up again, eleven years later. This is a communications book. And what can be more challenging than to influence entire countries, and even ancient adversaries to take even the most measured risks for peace? In this memoir, Baker shows readers how he uses the three questions below to prepare for his proposed ideas: 1. Will we be able to build a domestic consensus in support of it? 2. What kind of political reaction will it create in the capitals of our adversaries and allies? 3. How will it change the nature of our political relations, internationally? Before communicating his proposal to the country or group that he needs to convince, Baker would "leak his ideals to the press" and to some other powerful sources, to get public reaction. And, though this book is 672 pages, the factual information is presented in a light way through a great deal of down home humor, such as those in the quotes below: "If the horse of the team don't move at the same speed, there'll be an accident," Francois Mitterand "Allowing the two Germanies to work things out on their own in that kind of situation was, in my view, a recipe for a train wreck." James Baker (Referring to the unification) "There's no end to what a man can accomplish if he doesn't care who gets the credit." Ronald Reagan "What comes through is that the Soviets don't know how to square the circle. They're wrestling with it." Eduard Shevardnadze "If a bullfrog had wings, it wouldn't scrape it's [a..s] on the ground." (James Baker sparring with Assad, in Damascus) "If the dog hadn't stopped running, he wouldn't have caught the rabbit." (James Baker still trying to get Assad back to reality) "The higher the monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind." (Meaning the bigger impact the decision, potentially has the more on will look at details. This could also mean that the more powerful your position is, the more you will be scrutinized) "Now it was yes or my dead cat." James Baker (meaning yes or you will be blamed, if you don't agree) This is a great source for negotiations, corporate politics, history, and Sociolinguistics.

Baker's memoir is open and honest. He has put together an excellent narrative analysis of the foreign policy of the Bush administration. In years to come the usefulness of this book will probably decline as more scholarly work appears, but Baker's story continues to be charming and detailed.