Receive Your Copy Statecraft: And How To Restore America's Standing In The World Crafted By Dennis Ross Distributed As Manuscript

Statecraft, Dennis Ross describes actions taken by diplomatic officials and negotiators in four historic “conflicts” I use quotes because not all were physically violent, provides an overview of what statecraft is and guidelines for pursuing it, and suggests how it may be used in the future on four major foreign affairs issues confronting America.


Unfortunately, the book is just boring, There are some great stories about backchannels Ross had a close relationship with a counterpart in the Soviet Union during thes.
The State Department felt that it had reached substantial agreement with the Soviets on issues of German reunification and the response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, only for the Soviets to take a tough stance publicly.
In both instances, Rosss contact sent him private messages explaining the infighting in the Soviet government and pleading with the Americans to take certain actions that would give the Soviet foreign ministry the political cover to move forward with the peaceful cooperation they had been working towards behind the scenes.


These anecdotes are riveting, but they are few and far between, and surrounded by dry academic speak about objectives and coalitions and bureaucratic organization and other dreadfully boring things.
Often I would be jolted by the realization that I had just read the same sentence three times, and have a feeling of déjà vu that I was back in grad school, slogging through endless journal articles.


There are some interesting bits of foreshadowing, Statecraft was published in.

“What emerged in the Bushadministration was the perception that those who were on the other side of the ideological divide were not to be trusted.
Their concerns were not to be taken seriously, their motivations were suspect, and therefore the questions or problems they raised shouldnt be considered.
” The “ideological divide” at issue here was between those who believed that Saddam was evil and the world needed to be rid of him, and those who worried about creating a power vacuum in a socially unstable country but this text could have been lifted wordforword from a postelection analysis of.


The chapter on confronting radical Islam is one of the best or should I say, one of the only interesting ones in the book.
Ross talks about Hamas winning hearts and minds in Palestine by providing social services a tactic repeated years later by Islamic State.
He suggests that the US can confront radical Islamic terrorism by offering competing services the development aid as counterterrorism argument.
While its an argument I tend to agree with, Ross says nothing about it that hasnt been said with more detail and insight elsewhere.
He goes on to give an intriguing suggestion as to how the US should pressure Mubarak to improve his human rights credentials by withholding a portion of American aid until he lifts the state of emergency widely unpopular among the Egyptian public that he had been using to jail dissidents.
Writing this review from, I can say that, hmm, yes, maybe we should have put more pressure on Mubarak.
Rosss examples and arguments both heavily foreshadow the Arab Spring and are made utterly irrelevant by it.


A final complaint I have is that the book does not always explain the background of the examples it uses.
To illustrate the point that negotiators should try to demonstrate that they understand what is important to their counterparty, he uses the example of negotiations between Israel and Syria about the Golan Heights.
Before reading this book, I had heard of the Golan Heights but really knew nothing about exactly where it was, why it was important, and what has happened there in modern history.
After reading this book, I still do not know any of those things, The author basically assumes you are already wellversed on the entirety of international affairs since,

I would not recommend this book to anyone unless they were pursuing a masters degree in foreign affairs.
And even then, its more likely that youre going to be required to read it and use it mostly as a sleep aid.
Statecraft: And How to Restore America's Standing in the World by Dennis RossThis book is a good primer on the methods and structures of diplomacy and mediation, thoughas another reviewer pointed outit's not necessarily prescriptive.
I appreciated having the "rules" broken down and explained with applicable examples from Mr, Ross's experience as a diplomat, I also appreciated the case studies, especially the comparisons between President George H, W. Bush and President George W, Bush, underscoring that the former understood and practiced effective statecraft while the latter did neither,

The one caveat I have for the book is that it appears to market itself as being an overview on how to perform statecraft diplomacy/mediation and how it can be applied, but it only focuses on the Middle East.
I understand that is Mr, Ross's specialty, but it seems almost disingenuous to argue that all of the "rules" contained herein are a perfect fit across the board.
Things need to be adapted to each individual situation, and I don't think the book made a good enough attempt at clarifying that.


A reader wellversed in diplomacy and its theories is not likely to find most of this book especially helpful, except perhaps the case studies.
Much of it is obvious and part of any undergraduate foreign policy/international relations class, A good book with great thoughts, but the book is organized poorly, It lacks an ongoing connection between sections besides this very broad idea of “statecraft”, Some of the case studies are very interesting however, as well as the authors own specific opinions on American Foreign Policy.


I had the pleasant opportunity to listen to Dennis Ross speak, The book is a detailed and sobering look at the difficult work that is diplomacy and accents the stark difference between George Herbert Walker Bush and the already forgotten President's dearth of diplomacy The examples used by Mr.
Ross are somewhat dated however they remain valid, The author describes how Statecraft both succeeded and failed actually the lack of Statecraft, Good reading for those interested in foreign affairs or international relations, Relevant today given the different approaches to the subject by the two Presidential contenders, Another crafty salesman offering the public the best clothes the emperor has ever seen, The catch The uninitiated can't see any of the cloth, In this wise and thoughtprovoking book, the renowned peace negotiator Dennis Ross shows that America's current foreign policy problems stem from the Bush administration's inability to use the tools of statecraft to advance our national interests.
Ross explains that in the globalized worldwith its fluid borders, terrorist networks, and violent unreststatecraft is more necessary than ever.
In vivid chapters, he outlines how statecraft helped shape a new world order after, He shows how the failure of statecraft in Iraq and throughout the Middle East has undercut the United States and makes clear that only statecraft can check the rise of China and the danger of a nuclear Iran.
He draws on his expertise to reveal the art of successful negotiation, And he shows how the next president could resolve today's problems and define a realistic, ambitious foreign policy.
Statecraft is an essential book for our time Walter Isaacson, Dennis Ross, Middle East envoy for George H, W. Bush and Bill Clinton, is now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Foreign Affairs called his first book, The Missing Peace, a major contribution to the diplomatic history of the twentieth century.
from the publishers website Dennis Ross, Middle East envoy for George H, W. Bush and Bill Clinton, is now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Foreign Affairs called his first book, The Missing Peace, a major contribution to the diplomatic history of the twentieth century.
from the publisher's website" sitelink,