Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy is a book about the diplomat’s weapon and the coup of managing a state’s relationship with other states, subjects as old as recorded time. In this comprehensive treatise, the author describes the basic principles of statecraft and the skills of diplomatic rhetoric.
Using his experience as a foreign diplomat and his knowledge of many nations as a backdrop, Charles Freeman provides a detailed road map to successful negotiation. He discusses the roles of politics, culture, intelligence gathering, military measures, and economic power, as well as the art and rhetoric of diplomatic statecraft as applied in international law.
Arts of Power is a thesis on negotiation, the diplomat’s weapon. The author describes the usefulness of the applications of force and intelligence in international relations. He emphasizes the practical aspects of statecraft, the practical side of a diplomat’s job, and the application of a code of ethics to international law.
In the first part of the book, Freeman discusses intelligence gathering, covert activities, power, political influence, cultural measures, state economic measures, military tactics and nonviolence, as well as changes in the international state system, international order. , the interests of other states, and the constant evolution of international law as part of the interests and concerns of a nation.
In the second section, the author advances in the importance of negotiation, the diplomat’s weapon, and strategies, tactics and maneuvers, as well as the relationship between states and why and how diplomats are used. He talks about the traditions of the international system and the rearrangement of relations between states in times of peace.
The third part of the book includes a description of the job of a diplomat and the importance of diplomatic rhetoric, promotion and administration. Freeman also discusses the fact that states have different cultures, traditions, and historical experiences, and how they must overcome these differences in order to function under an international state system. This is a powerful book, easily one of the most comprehensive guides to statecraft in existence today. It is an interesting read because it offers professionals and non-professionals an important guide to understanding diplomacy and international ethics. It is a valuable guide for the professional diplomat, an informative manual for students, and even for the non-diplomatic reader who wants to learn the secrets of power.
There have been a few other books written on this subject. Arts of Power provides a bridge to fill the gaps between the few available works on this topic. It is different because it is written by a true diplomat, an ambassador charged with keeping the peace at all costs.
2011 Moira G. Gallaga©
