Hannah Gurman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231158725
- eISBN:
- 9780231530354
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231158725.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Conflict Politics and Policy
Beginning with the Cold War and concluding with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, this book explores the overlooked opposition of U.S. diplomats to American foreign policy in the latter half of the ...
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Beginning with the Cold War and concluding with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, this book explores the overlooked opposition of U.S. diplomats to American foreign policy in the latter half of the twentieth century. During America's reign as a dominant world power, U.S. presidents and senior foreign policy officials largely ignored or rejected their diplomats' reports, memos, and telegrams, especially when they challenged key policies relating to the Cold War, China, and the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. The book recovers these diplomats' invaluable perspective and their commitment to the transformative power of diplomatic writing. It showcases the work of diplomats whose opposition enjoyed some success. George Kennan, John Stewart Service, John Paton Davies, George Ball, and John Brady Kiesling all caught the attention of sitting presidents and policymakers, achieving temporary triumphs yet ultimately failing to change the status quo. The book follows the circulation of documents within the State Department, the National Security Council, the C.I.A., and the military, and it details the rationale behind “The Dissent Channel,” instituted by the State Department in the 1970s, to both encourage and contain dissent. Advancing an alternative narrative of modern U.S. history, the book connects the erosion of the diplomatic establishment and the weakening of the diplomatic writing tradition to larger political and ideological trends while, at the same time, foreshadowing the resurgent significance of diplomatic writing in the age of Wikileaks.Less
Beginning with the Cold War and concluding with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, this book explores the overlooked opposition of U.S. diplomats to American foreign policy in the latter half of the twentieth century. During America's reign as a dominant world power, U.S. presidents and senior foreign policy officials largely ignored or rejected their diplomats' reports, memos, and telegrams, especially when they challenged key policies relating to the Cold War, China, and the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. The book recovers these diplomats' invaluable perspective and their commitment to the transformative power of diplomatic writing. It showcases the work of diplomats whose opposition enjoyed some success. George Kennan, John Stewart Service, John Paton Davies, George Ball, and John Brady Kiesling all caught the attention of sitting presidents and policymakers, achieving temporary triumphs yet ultimately failing to change the status quo. The book follows the circulation of documents within the State Department, the National Security Council, the C.I.A., and the military, and it details the rationale behind “The Dissent Channel,” instituted by the State Department in the 1970s, to both encourage and contain dissent. Advancing an alternative narrative of modern U.S. history, the book connects the erosion of the diplomatic establishment and the weakening of the diplomatic writing tradition to larger political and ideological trends while, at the same time, foreshadowing the resurgent significance of diplomatic writing in the age of Wikileaks.
Barbara Bombi
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198729150
- eISBN:
- 9780191795879
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198729150.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History, Political History
This chapter questions the extent to which the administrative departments of the English crown adopted continental rhetorical styles in their diplomatic and administrative exchange with the papacy in ...
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This chapter questions the extent to which the administrative departments of the English crown adopted continental rhetorical styles in their diplomatic and administrative exchange with the papacy in order to comply with the requirements of the stilus curie, namely the rules and procedures in use at the papal curia from the mid-twelfth century, ultimately giving shape to a ‘shared language of diplomacy’. Evidence is provided by English and papal diplomatic records, recording both oral and written communications. The chapter therefore focuses on the conveyance of oral messages at the papal curia, the aurality of diplomatic documents, and the delivery of written diplomatic documents and petitions.Less
This chapter questions the extent to which the administrative departments of the English crown adopted continental rhetorical styles in their diplomatic and administrative exchange with the papacy in order to comply with the requirements of the stilus curie, namely the rules and procedures in use at the papal curia from the mid-twelfth century, ultimately giving shape to a ‘shared language of diplomacy’. Evidence is provided by English and papal diplomatic records, recording both oral and written communications. The chapter therefore focuses on the conveyance of oral messages at the papal curia, the aurality of diplomatic documents, and the delivery of written diplomatic documents and petitions.
