Diplomacy: A Very Short Introduction

by Joseph M. Siracusa

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The course and consequences of major events of modern international diplomacy have shaped and changed the global world in which we live. Joseph M. Siracusa introduces the subject of diplomacy from an historical perspective, providing examples from significant historical phases and episodes to illustrate the art of diplomacy in action.

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Questions for Thought and Discussion

• What is diplomacy? And what were its origins?



• What is a diplomat? And what do they do?



• Though it is still true that the legal formalities based on the 1961 Vienna Convention acknowledge only the diplomacy of states, it is impossible to ignore the diplomacy of the global economic system. What is meant by this statement? Give some examples.



• What is public diplomacy? And what are its implications for traditional diplomacy?



• What is a treaty? And what are its essential attributes?



• How did the American revolutionaries’ quest for foreign aid shape their diplomacy?



• What role did the French Alliance play in the American Revolutionary War?



• Describe the diplomacy of the peace negotiations of the American colonists in negotiating their settlement with Great Britain. Be specific.



• What were the diplomatic origins of World War I?



• The “September Program” set out in detail the long established plans of the German Government in World War I. Describe the component parts of this program.



• The war aims of the Allies in World War I were crowned by Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points. What were they?



• Describe the diplomacy of the Allies in the making of the Treaty of Versailles. What was the role of the so-called Responsibility clause?



• Why did Churchill travel to Moscow in the autumn of 1944? What did he hope to accomplish in his spheres of influence agreement with Stalin? What was accomplished?



• Describe the diplomacy of the ANZUS Treaty. What did the United States want? What did the Australians want? What was the main source of contention?



• How does diplomacy in the Age of Globalization differ from traditional diplomacy? Is one a substitute for the other?



• Describe the emergence of civil society organizations and their impact on the practice of diplomacy.



• Transnational corporations and corporations in general are viewed with suspicion in developmental circles. How has this complicated the traditional role of diplomacy?



• Describe the role of significant regional institutions in mediating global crises.



• What is meant by human security? And how does it complicate the traditional role of diplomacy?

A Selection of Other Books by Joseph M. Siracusa

• Joseph M. Siracusa and David G. Coleman: Australia Looks to America (Regina Books, 2006)



• Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2008)



• Paul Battersby and Joseph M. Siracusa: Globalization and Human Security (Rowman and Littlefield, 2009)

Further Reading

• Harold Nicolson: Diplomacy (Harcourt Brace, 1939)



• Samuel Flagg Bemis: The Diplomacy of the American Revolution (D. Appleton Century, 1935)



• Henry Kissinger: Diplomacy (Simon and Schuster, 1994)



• Manfred E. Boemeke et al., (eds.): The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment after 75 Years (Cambridge University Press, 1998)



• James Joll and Gordon Martel: The Origins of the First World, 3rd edn. (Oxford University Press, 2006)



• Norman A. Graebner, Richard Dean Burns, and Joseph M. Siracusa: America and the Cold War, 1941-1991: A Realist Interpretation, 2 vols. (Praeger Security International, 2010)



• G. R. Berridge: Diplomacy: Theory and Practice, 4th edn. (Routledge, 2010)