Diplomacy for the Next Century (Castle Lectures Series) [Hardcover]

Mr. Abba Eban (Author)

Book Description

Series: Castle Lectures Series | Publication Date: March 30, 1998

"Few 20th century diplomats match Abba Eban in intelligence and experience, and none in wit; so his reflections on diplomatic challenges int he century to come are uncommonly perceptive, rewarding and readable". -- Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

"Abba Eban's book is part statecraft, part diplomatic history, part autobiography, and entirely absorbing. His insights are as lucid as they are elegant, reaffirming his place as one of the most knowledgeable, wise, and eloquent of modern diplomats". -- Henry A. Kissinger

"Diplomacy can only gain in public esteem by shaking off the intrinsically insoluble arguments about virtue and conscience and concentrating on more practical goals. Reciprocal self-interest is and should remain the central theme". -- from Diplomacy for the Next Century

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 oil to deplore the lack of privacy in international negotiationsthat 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.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Eban has been a towering figure in Israeli politics since the country's 1948 founding; representative to the United Nations and ambassador to the United States are just two of his many credentials. He has also authored a number of books on the Mideast and Israeli politics. This work is based largely on a set of lectures at Yale that underscored ethical and moral issues facing government, society, and individuals. Although many of the major themes appear to have been derived from Eban's earlier works, there is some updating of material. An especially strong chapter on the United Nations focuses on the role of traditional diplomacy in international organization, as opposed to those who tend to see global issues through the more visionary prospects of some new world order. This relatively short book packs a lot of political savvy and demonstrates insight into the international political decision-making process. Recommended for all academic and larger public libraries.?Stephen W. Green, Auraria Lib., Denver, Col.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Eban obviously enjoyed himself during the Castle Lectures at Yale (collected here), as he ranged like a well-trained bull through a china shop of political correctness. Eban, for many years foreign minister of Israel and the author of many books (including Personal Witness, 1992), may not have much to say about the problems of the next century, but he has a sharp eye for the follies of the last, including summitry (``no situation is so bad that a badly conceived summit meeting cannot make it worse''); the UN (the ``myth of a powerful international organization,'' he notes, is the second ``most spectacular fallacy'' of the postWW II era); the revisionist view that the Soviet threat during the Cold War was never a real one; Ostpolitik, which he thinks was a Soviet victory, equivalent to the recognition of its military victories; and the US's reluctance to accord diplomatic recognition to countries of which it disapproves (on which he quotes Churchill that ``the reason for having diplomatic relations is not to confer a compliment, but to secure a convenience''). He is also tough on Israel, and in particular on the ``draconian punishments inflicted on the entire populations of the West Bank and Gaza'' in retaliation for the 1996 Jerusalem bombing. In all, or at least most, of these views he reflects the attitudes of professional diplomats, a group ``dominated by a sense of limitation proceeding from a somber view of human nature'' and pursuing ``relatively modest goals,'' but even here he has some sharp observations on the ``extraordinary record of strategic surprise'' in the last 60 years, a pattern of failure which may proceed from their training, which tends to discount ``the original, unpredictable, innovative factors in international conduct.'' As sharp, shrewd, and candid an assessment of at least the current state of international relations as we are likely to get. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; First Edition, First Printing edition (March 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300072872
• ISBN-13: 978-0300072877
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,973,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Israeli diplomat reviews the last 5 decades, December 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Diplomacy for the Next Century (Castle Lectures Series) (Hardcover)

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 over bombinb" Hiroshima and Nagasaki-- which leads Eban to conclude that Truman likely lost much sleep over the decision. He goes on to note the remarkable influence that Truman and his advisors-- Marshall, Acheson, etc, had on the shaping of post- war events. This book, however, is about diplomacy, and it's goal is to present the "realist" position. In it, he argues that countries make decisions that are in their own interests, and that any attempt to alter that by introducing supranational rules is likely to fail. The book is clearly more complicated than the simple summarizing statement, and is therefore a remarkably interesting book, especially from an individual who has been involved in international relations for over 50 years.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wisdom from a lifetime of diplomatic experience, March 2, 2000

By 

Linda Linguvic (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Diplomacy for the Next Century (Castle Lectures Series) (Paperback)

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. I can't believe an American president today would not have a cadre of handlers briefing him on his every move.

I particularly liked some of his analyses of the United Nations and the challenges it faces because human beings see themselves as part of a nation-state, not as citizens of the world. He gives the example of the first men to walk on the moon who planted an American flag. Nobody thought about planting a flag from "Planet Earth".

Like a true talmudic scholar Eban is quick to see both sides of an issue and a central theme of the book is that you can't look to the past to predict the future. He gives example after example where surprises occurred in recent history that nobody had ever expected or predicted, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union.

As I'm not that acquainted with many details of history I found some of the book a little dense. I had to read the chapter on the Oslo Accords twice with a yellow highlighter in my hand to finally understand. This was a peace accord negotiated in Norway in 1992 which led the historic photo of Arafat and Rabin shaking hands. It worked because the Norwegians are neutral. He feels that when the U.S. tries to broker a peace agreement, it creates problems because everyone knows that Israel is a U.S. ally. We have all see the latest peace negotiations on American soil fall apart in the past few months which definitely illustrates this point.

The book whetted my appetite to learn more and that is good.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a great read, February 11, 2002

By 

"pdomin" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diplomacy for the Next Century (Castle Lectures Series) (Paperback)

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 is good for he country vs what is good for oneself.