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1. Advice from an Old School Diplomat to the Chat/GPT Generation

Author:
Polonius
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
I recently asked Chat/GPT to answer the following question: “What is the relationship between theories of international relations and the actual practice of diplomacy and international affairs”? It answered: “Theories of international relations provide conceptual frameworks for understanding global interactions and influencing diplomatic strategies; however, real-world diplomacy is shaped by dynamic factors, including cultural nuances, geopolitical events, and individual leaders, making the relationship between theory and practice complex and often subject to adaptation.” Yes, that’s from Chat/GPT! Perhaps some reader can improve on that answer, but I am not tempted to try.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Memoir, and ChatGPT
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

2. CPR for the Turkish Economy: The 2001 Financial Crisis and its Aftermath

Author:
W. Robert Pearson
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
On February 19, 2001, at a formal government meeting, the president of Türkiye, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, accused the prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, of incompetent management of the country’s banking system and threw a copy of the Turkish constitutional code book across the table at him. The prime minister stormed out, called a press conference, and verbally attacked the president. Immediately, the stock market panicked, the lira plunged, and interest rates skyrocketed. My wife Maggie and I were celebrating a belated Valentine’s lunch that day. An embassy colleague rushed in to say the Turkish lira was crumbling. I called the prime minister and urged him to buy lira with Turkish reserves as fast as possible. He ignored my advice and by day’s end the lira was in the basement. Overnight, the savings of many ordinary citizens were devastated, and millions of dollars of value had vaporized. The causes of the collapse were many. Türkiye had experienced high inflation throughout the previous decade. The government had run large deficits and funded them with high interest bonds that avoided short-term defaults. The increased borrowing and growing public debt created a dangerous economic risk. The Turkish banking sector faced significant issues, including inadequate regulations, poor risk management, and high levels of non-performing loans. Many banks had debts that were difficult to collect. Türkiye depended greatly on foreign borrowing to finance its economic growth, but, as economic imbalances worsened, changes in investor sentiment added to concerns. Foreign investors withdrew over $70 billion from 2000 to 2001 as the economic situation deteriorated.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Financial Crisis, Economy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

3. Soviet vs. Post-Soviet Russian Disinformation

Author:
Todd Leventhal
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
An intriguing and important question for students of disinformation and propaganda is: how do Soviet and post-Soviet Russian disinformation and propaganda differ, why, and what does this indicate for the future? I believe an unbiased analysis reveals that: there is a great deal of continuity between the goals and techniques of Soviet and post-Soviet Russian disinformation and propaganda. the new digital media environment offers unprecedented ways for new Russian disinformation and propaganda instruments, including RT (formerly Russia Today) and Sputnik, to influence foreign audiences. the reelection of Donald Trump would offer unparalleled opportunities for Soviet influence on US international policy at the very highest level.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Propaganda, Disinformation, and Post-Soviet Space
Political Geography:
Russia and Soviet Union

4. Russian Propaganda Efforts: Historical Continuities Accompany Technological Changes

Author:
John Katzka
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
As public affairs officer at the US embassy in Moscow, I had the opportunity during the last years of the Soviet Union to engage with and at times respond to its propaganda efforts. My personal impressions and the conclusions I drew from them form the basis for the observations below. Whether something constitutes propaganda often depends on your point of view. The Oxford English Dictionary defines propaganda as “information that is often biased or misleading, used to promote a political cause or point of view.” Propaganda, in other words, is not analytical, although it may pretend to be. It seems to me that any one-sided presentation is in its essence propagandistic. The promotion of US foreign policy may be as propagandistic as that of any other country. Ours is “good” propaganda only because we are on the side of the angels. There are three overarching influences on the role of propaganda in a particular country: first, that country’s underlying culture; second, its form of government (in the case of Russia, authoritarianism); and third, the role of media-related technology.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Culture, Authoritarianism, Propaganda, and Soviet Union
Political Geography:
Russia and Eurasia

5. The Christmas Gift that Keeps Giving

Author:
Jack F. Jr Matlock
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
On December 24, 1989, Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Aboimov informed me on behalf of the Soviet government, ‘We have given the Brezhnev Doctrine to you with our compliments. Consider it a Christmas gift.” Now, some thirty-four years later, I should explain what the Brezhnev Doctrine was, the circumstances under which the gift was conveyed, and why I believe that it was a gift that has infused US foreign policy to this very day.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Memoir, and Brezhnev Doctrine
Political Geography:
Soviet Union and United States of America

6. Satchmo, the Duke, and the Count: Representing America at its Best Despite Having Experienced its Worst

Author:
Larry Tye
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Exuberant crowds in New Orleans had crowned Louis Armstrong the pretend King of the Zulus during Mardi Gras in 1949. But in 1960 when he visited the Belgian Congo, not far from the fountainhead of the Zulu people, the Congolese feted him like the real thing. Tom-tommers drummed a greeting reserved for tribal chiefs and hailed him as “Ambassador Extraordinary of the United States.” Grass-skirted tribesmen painted in violet and ochre carried him through the streets of Leopoldville on a homemade throne mounted on poles, a company of police and soldiers leading the way. His hosts had hoped to draw 1,500 people to his concert at King Baudouin Stadium, but so popular was Satchmo that 10,000 churning fans packed the stands. While they chanted “Satcheemo,” he shouted back, in wretchedly accented French, “Merci beaucoup, beaucoup.” His proudest triumph during his twenty-four-hour trip defied even the power of diplomats and kings. As he told it, “There was fighting, and they stopped the war because I played there that night.” That wasn’t merely Satchmo telling tales. The Congo was embroiled in a deadly civil conflict, with civilians caught between rampaging troops. But as one headline hollered, “They Called Truce To Dig Louis.” The Associated Press trumpeted, ‘“Wizard’ Satchmo Unites the Congo!” The warring sides, the AP explained, “joined forces to provide a heavily armed cordon ‘round Satchmo and his party.” They actually danced and cheered side-by-side at that night’s concert, although they resumed their bloody fighting once Louis left the country.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Culture, Soft Power, Memoir, and Music
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

7. A New Face, But an Old Tactic: History Offers Clues on Stopping Russia’s African Advance

Author:
Herman J. Cohen
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
The conflict in Gaza has taken center stage in global affairs. But while the eyes of the world are drawn to the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been working in the background to expand Russia’s influence in Africa. His tactics are drawn from the Soviet Union’s Cold War playbook. He offers military support, now via the mercenary Wagner Group, to unstable regimes across the continent, helping them retain power in exchange for diplomatic allegiance and natural resources. If the US does not meet this issue head-on, the consequences for African nations and the international community could be dire. US policymakers should look at the history of the Soviet Union’s diplomacy on the African continent– a period I witnessed personally as a diplomat on the ground– for clues on how to effectively respond to and combat this growing issue.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, History, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Africa and Russia

8. The Modest Geopolitical Case for Pakistan

Author:
Ted Craig
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Pakistan is no longer an imperative for the United States. With the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and the fall of the Afghan government in August 2021, our critical need for Pakistan as the only reliable land and air route into that landlocked country has all but ended. The US embassy in Islamabad is working admirably with Pakistan authorities to ensure that Pakistan remains a viable exit route for the Afghan allies for whom we seek to provide refuge, but the daily necessity of Pakistan to supply our troops, diplomats, and development officers is over. Conversely, we are no longer compelled to engage Pakistan in the vain hope it will eliminate the sanctuary it long provided the Taliban. It never did, and the Afghan Taliban’s victory owes as much to the safe haven that Pakistan gave it as it does to the corrupted Afghan state that our overabundance of dollars helped create. After the United States’ humiliating exit from Kabul, there is an understandable impulse in Washington to wash our hands of the uncomfortable and often morally compromised relationship with Pakistan. We no longer need much from Islamabad (or Rawalpindi, the Army’s headquarters), and we have a seemingly more important relationship to build with Pakistan’s archrival India. But turning our backs on Pakistan is the wrong play. To date, the Biden administration has authorized some valuable diplomatic reengagement with Pakistan, cleared a sustainment package for previous Pakistan military purchases, and sent generous assistance in response to 2022 flooding. But the White House has not offered high-level engagement. In Washington corridors, there is a clear sense that the White House is Pakistan-skeptical.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Taliban, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

9. Tough Love and the Diplomacy of Foreign Assistance

Author:
Mark G. Wentling
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Providing aid to low and middle-income countries (LMIC) is at the heart of our relationships with those countries. The concept is that needy countries on this list of 132 LMICs, particularly the 45 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the bottom range of this list, require external aid for their development. However, almost all the countries on the LMIC list are the same as they were over 30 years ago, and they are no closer to graduating into a higher income category. It is highly doubtful if any LMIC will achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals set for 2030. This raises several fundamental questions about the return on the US government’s investment. What are the cost-benefit and recurrent costs analyses? Do the returns justify the investment of the USG’s human resources and funding amounts? Is USG assistance contributing to modifying the host country’s behavior so that it is more favorable to US interests? Basically, is the activity worth USG resources?
Topic:
Development, Diplomacy, Investment, and Foreign Assistance
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

10. Diplomacy and the Mysteries of the How: The ‘Craft’ in Statecraft

Author:
Philip Zelikow
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Practical leadership has two dimensions. The first dimension is one we know well: choosing what to do. The second dimension is less well known. How to do it? If leaders provide guidance about what is to be done, and how to do it, the rest is management and execution. The first part, the “what to do part,” is an easy debate to follow. It is mostly about goals. People discuss problems, which problems they care about, their values, the role of government. The news is naturally devoted to spotlighting problems and making claims for attention. The second part, the “how to do it part,” is a good deal harder to understand. The debates are far more obscure. People have to make judgments about practical action. That requires specialized knowledge about the available instruments and the relevant circumstances. My argument is that between these two dimensions—the well-known what to do part, the little known how to do part—the “how” knowledge is the high card in the deck. Once it is played, high sounding goals often turn to dust. Former Secretary of State Dean Rusk put it this way: “Ideas are not policies. Besides,” he added, “ideas have a high infant mortality rate.” The “how” is the “craft” in statecraft. Usually, the best diplomacy is a kind of choreography. Roles are assigned, steps are planned. Each of the dancers hits their marks. Mastery of the “how,” as any sergeant can tell you in a platoon, is the true source of practical leadership. Yet this dimension is not well understood. It is infrequently studied and rarely taught.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Leadership, Peace, and Statecraft
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America