To the Secretary: Leaked Embassy Cables and America's Foreign Policy Disconnect
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- 13,99 €
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- 13,99 €
Descrição da editora
A former American diplomat reveals a disconnect between Washington policymakers and those who work in US embassies.
When the world awoke on November 28, 2010, and read the first of the 251,287 State Department cables made public by WikiLeaks, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini warned, “It will be the September 11th of world diplomacy.” The WikiLeaks scandal certainly stirred tempers around the world, but it was not the implosion that many leaders expected: rather, it shed a new spotlight on the work of the U.S. foreign service. In To the Secretary, Mary Thompson-Jones explores the most fascinating and overlooked of these cables to offer an unparalleled window into the day-to-day work of U.S. diplomats, demystifying the lives of those who implement America’s foreign policy across the globe.
From the story of Bulgaria’s Aleksi “the Tractor” Petrov to disappearing ballot ink in Ukraine, a Honduran coup d’état, or disaster relief for a devastated Haiti, To the Secretary depicts the work of ambassadors and foreign service officers through their firsthand narratives dealing with crises, corruption, and testy world leaders. Negotiating distinctly un-American customs and corridors of power, these shrewd brokers in embassies from Argentina to Zimbabwe worked tirelessly to promote American diplomacy in a world frequently hostile to the United States.
To the Secretary also reveals the disconnect that diplomats face at home, guided by conflicting approaches from multiple Washington stakeholders intent on their own agenda, often unaware of realities on the ground. In an honest assessment of America’s foreign policy challenges, Thompson-Jones describes the deepening gulf between decision makers in Washington and their diplomats in the field. From misinterpreted analyses of anti-Americanism to Washington’s unwillingness to send resources to support diplomatic activities that could make a difference, To the Secretary shows what policymakers can learn from diplomats abroad—and how this can strengthen America’s place in an unstable world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this well-written and informative effort, former diplomat Thompson-Jones provides context to the State Department cables released by WikiLeaks in 2010. Writing from the "calmer vantage point" of five years later, she reveals what the leaked cables "did and didn't do to the world of diplomacy." As she explains, what's most significant about the information leak is that it happened "in real time," as opposed to the decades-long process by which secret government documents are typically declassified. For readers interested in the behind-the-scenes role of embassy workers and diplomats, this is an especially informative story, and Thompson-Jones tells it through colorful glimpses of life overseas. A recurring theme is the divide, during the George W. Bush administration, between the pragmatism of diplomats stationed abroad and the "more ideological and ambitious agenda" of Washington policy makers. Her sometimes withering assessments of the Obama administration's performance and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's presidential suitability add much to the book's topicality but little to its account of diplomacy. In general, though, this well-organized and readable book amply succeeds in fulfilling one of Thompson-Jones's main objectives to use the words and stories of Foreign Service officers to "demystify their work."