Description
Book SynopsisThis book is intended as a primer for generalizing on a case-comparison basis about diplomatic statecraft, including resources and techniques available to states to attain their objectives. Twenty years in the making, it employs an inductive method in which small samples of cases occurring at different times and between different states are studied to track and understand specific variable diplomatic behavior. Its concern with empirically-grounded generalization, in which hypotheses are formulated and tested by case similarities and differences, is a new approach to diplomatic analysis. Diplomacy, though central to international relations study and practice, has generally been studied normatively rather than theoretically, in contrast to other international relations topics. Students of diplomacy, emphasizing statecraft's complexity, have generally shied away from theory, while theory-minded international relations analysts have neglected statecraft and highlighted military capabilit
Trade ReviewAn important and ambitious contribution to the understudied and underappreciated subject of international diplomacy. Steiner situates the diplomacy of war and peace within an impressive range of theoretical literature and backs his claims with abundant historical evidence. His book will prove a useful resource for students and scholars alike. -- James Lebovic, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University
This book fills a longstanding gap in the study of diplomacy: the need for a theory to explain why some policies and practices succeed while others fail. By analyzing targeted questions across a wide range of comparative case studies – that address diplomatic communications, alliance strategy, mediation, public opinion and arms control – Steiner builds a convincing and constructive pathway to diplomatic theory that can offer useful insights for both researchers and practitioners. -- Bertram Spector, Editor-in-Chief, "International Negotiation: A Journal of Theory and Practice"
Diplomatic analysis tends to be submerged in the overlap between foreign policy and international politics, or lost in the gap between those two fields. Barry Steiner is dedicated to reviving it from its current alternative fates, and he does it with his customary command of a wide span of events and his ability to bring out new insights that make this revived field of inquiry stand on its own and also throw light on the two adjoining fields. -- I. William Zartman, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Table of ContentsPreface List of Cases List of Tables Chapter I: Introduction Chapter II: Toward a Diplomatic Viewpoint Chapter III: When Diplomatic Communication is Missing Chapter IV: Bargaining, Negotiation, and Convergent Interests Chapter V: Diplomacy as Independent and Dependent Variable Chapter VI: Diplomatic Mediation as an Independent Variable Chapter VII: To Arms Control or Not Chapter VIII: Diplomacy as Effect: Public Opinion as Constraint and Pressure Chapter IX: Seeking Diplomatic Theory: An Interim Report Bibliography
