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The Lost Art of American Diplomacy

The United States is no longer the only big kid on the geopolitical block, and no longer able get everything it wants on its own, or by force alone. This makes diplomacy more important than ever.

by William J. Burns

published by

Foreign Affairs

on March 27, 2019

Source: Foreign Affairs

Diplomacy may be one of the world’s oldest professions, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. It’s mostly a quiet endeavor, less swaggering than unrelenting, oftentimes operating in back channels, out of sight and out of mind. U.S. President Donald Trump’s disdain for professional diplomacy and its practitioners—along with his penchant for improvisational flirtations with authoritarian leaders such as North Korea’s Kim Jong Un—has put an unaccustomed spotlight on the profession. It has also underscored the significance of its renewal....

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This article was originally published in Foreign Affairs.