Diplomacy for the Next Century (Castle Lectures Series)

By Abba Eban

Book Overview

In this wise and eloquent book, one of the world's preeminent senior statesmen presents his views on the challenges of diplomacy in the post-Cold War era. Abba Eban, who has been Israel's ambassador to the United Nations and to the United States as well as the foreign minister in several Israeli governments, draws on his years of experience and knowledge to offer an overview of diplomacy as practiced in today's world. Interweaving historical data with personal reminiscences, Eban reviews the Cold War period and its end in 1989, praising the diplomatic restraint in the years that have followed; discusses the ethical confrontation between power and conscience in a wide range of international decisions and actions; and points out the difficulty of reconciling the promotion of universal human rights with respect for national sovereignty. Eban goes on to deplore the lack of privacy in international negotiations that is the result of an increasingly intrusive media, shows that nuclear warfare is not a restraint against frequent military intervention, and warns against inflated views of what can be expected from the United Nations. He concludes with thoughts about the quest for peace in the Middle East. Instructive, erudite, and witty, Eban's tour through diplomatic history vividly demonstrates that the wisdom of the past can be immensely valuable as we seek to negotiate and maintain peace in the future.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300078609
• ISBN13: 9780300078602
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Diplomacy relevant to our times.

Mr. Bban has done an excellent work on the practice of diplomacy. As one of the most promient diplomatic minds of the 20th century, he presented the current dilemmas of diplomatic community with great clarity and insight. For example, Mr. Eban makes an excellent point about the necessity of secret diplomacy. Although we value the virtue of transparency in government, diplomacy should be kept secret so that negotiators from...

a great read

This is an easy fascinating read by an incredibly eloquent writer. He had interesting insights on the major forrign policy issues of the last 50 years. Not knowing all the details to many of these events, Mr Eban does a great job of suummerizing the events in a short but helpful fashion.This is a must read for anyone interested in how foreign policies are formed. Loved the section on the inherent contradiction between what...

Wisdom from a lifetime of diplomatic experience

Looking back on his long and distinguished career, Eban has a unique perspective which he shares with the readers. He's strongest when describing personal anecdotes such as the one in which Harry S. Truman was gifted with a torah from the Israeli delegation and had no idea what a torah was. He thanked the Israelis profusely though and said "I've always wanted one of these." I have to smile. Politics sure have changed...

An Israeli diplomat reviews the last 5 decades

Abba Eban writes about his experiences as an Israeli diplomat by beginning with a description of his first encounter with Harry Truman. He describes Truman's small- town middle America appearance understating the most powerful man in the most powerful country ever in history. When presenting his diplomatic credentials to Truman, Truman states to Eban, and subsequently to another diplomat, that he "never lost any sleep...