The Art of Peace: Bringing Diplomacy Back to Washington

Everything was so much clearer during the Cold War. The United States used its diplomatic, economic, and military might to contain and outmaneuver the Soviet Union. Then, as the Cold War was winding down, the United States engaged Mikhail Gorbachev's rapidly declining regime as a source of leverage to manage and resolve conflicts across the globe.

Through sustained diplomatic negotiations, Washington took advantage of the shifting geopolitical landscape to negotiate settlements and aid transitions in Afghanistan, Central America, Southeast Asia, and southern Africa while laying the foundations for Europe's post-Cold War security architecture. This approach helped the United States defeat Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War, launch the Madrid phase of the Middle East peace process, and facilitate the unification of Germany. Thanks in large part to the United States' vision and diplomatic skill, the breakup of the Soviet Union and the emergence of over a dozen states in its wake was a remarkably peaceful affair.

The collapse of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s broke this pattern. The West was confused at first, and it took several years of strategic drift before U.S. officials reasserted leadership and managed to contain the violence in 1995 -- showing again how much can be accomplished by harnessing effective diplomacy to a realistic strategy.

But these accomplishments stand in sharp contrast to most of the United States' foreign policy record since. The decline of U.S. diplomacy began during the Clinton administration and reached its low point during the first term of George W. Bush. Since the mid-1990s, U.S. officials have generally shunned broad strategic undertakings and been wary of mounting sustained diplomatic campaigns or mediation initiatives. In other words, they have shied away from statecraft, the subject of an important new book by the veteran Middle East peacemaker Dennis Ross.

Statecraft is the art of developing an effective geopolitical strategy and executing it through the intelligent use of all appropriate instruments of power. Like a general on the battlefield, a foreign policy strategist must analyze prevailing political and diplomatic conditions and the underlying balance of forces and then exert overwhelming influence in order to shape events at crucial points. It is creative diplomacy that translates this strategic energy into action. Effective statecraft is vital, and the United States is unlikely to regain its reputation and restore its capacity for global leadership without it.

SMART POWER

Statecraft receives less attention than the military interventions and wars of choice that have characterized U.S. foreign policy over the last dozen years, but Ross' book recalls how much was accomplished when it was still in fashion. Statecraft includes case studies of German unification under the umbrella of nato, the Gulf War, and Bosnia (before and after the United States got serious there, in 1995). Statecraft, for Ross, is what has been missing from U.S. foreign policy in the Bush years, most notably in the lead-up to the Iraq war and in the catastrophic occupation that followed.

Liberally drawing on his personal experiences in U.S.-Soviet affairs, the Gulf War, and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Ross explains the arts of negotiation and mediation. Statecraft is especially useful for readers lost in today's mostly strategy-free foreign policy environment. Ross identifies the key ingredients of effective statecraft: clearly defined objectives and policy consensus within government; accurate, realistic assessments of obstacles and of the resources required to overcome them; and the systematic integration of all tools of power in a sustained and intense diplomatic effort.

A profound misunderstanding of the relationship between strategy, power, and diplomacy lies at the heart of the current crisis in U.S. foreign policy. Above all, the United States needs smart statecraft. Washington must pull together its wits, wallet, and muscle to create realistic policies and set them in motion through agile diplomacy. Smart statecraft does not dispense with hard power; it uses hard power intelligently, recognizing both its potential and its limits and integrating it into an overarching strategy.

Diplomacy, contrary to the current misconception, is not about making nice, exchanging happy talk, and offering concessions. It is the engine that converts raw energy and tangible power into meaningful political results. In other words, diplomacy is all about the intelligent use of power. Diplomacy is not an alternative to coercion and other forms of power; its effectiveness depends on their skillful use.

Ross' conception of statecraft emphasizes the need for foresight. It is not enough to have a goal and a plan. The effective statesman must anticipate the challenges of introducing and following through on a policy decision. The major diplomatic breakthroughs of the late 1980s and the early to mid-1990s were the result of sustained, intense efforts on the part of high-level U.S. officials featuring adroit maneuvers, nonstop interactions (often face-to-face) with their foreign counterparts, the continuous management of their domestic bureaucratic and political base, and the regular reevaluation of realities on the ground. Ross makes a powerful case for relying on "reality-based" intelligence assessments, in contrast to ideologically driven or "faith-based" intelligence and just plain wishful thinking. Moreover, he emphasizes that effective statecraft requires careful management of the political-bureaucratic process so that everything stays on track both at home and abroad.