Customer Reviews

The Politics of Diplomacy

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This book is a fascinating look at James Baker's tenure as Secretary of State. Baker writes a massive book seperated by area of work; ie one chapter on Eastern Europe, one on the Persian Gulf War, etc.; which causes a little confusion in terms of the timeline, but it is easily sorted out. The one massive flaw is that he makes virtually no mention of Vice President Quayle and some others in the foreign policy process and absolutely lionizes himself. While I realize that this is a memoir, and as such is meant to build up the author, but this seems to go a bit over the edge. IF you want to find out how Baker thought and worked, this is an incredible book. If you are looking for history, read this with many other books.

Soon after becoming secretary of state, George P. Shultz noted that  unless you do something about it, in the job of secretary of state you will spend 100 percent of your time on the Middle East.  Every Secretary of State becomes a Middle East expert very rapidly, whether he wants to or not, he also stated. . These observations remain valid today, when Warren Christopher has virtually become Secretary of State for the Middle East. Baker had a similar experience. Page one of his memoirs tells of Saddam Husayns invasion of Kuwait, the single most dangerous moment of Bakers three-years-plus as secretary of state. Of the books thirty-four chapters, fully fifteen concentrate on the Middle East, primarily the Kuwait war and the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Famously discreet when in office, Baker unbuttons a bit in the retelling. He captures the atmosphere of his endless travels (he went to sleep on the eve of his Geneva meeting with Tariq Aziz, just before the outbreak of hostilities, as the chants from antiwar protesters echoed quietly up to our block of rooms) and the vagaries of dealing with Middle Eastern leaders (Asad treated his complaints about Syrian terrorism the way one might react to an eccentric uncle at family gatheringsas an unavoidable nuisance to be endured politely). Baker also provides some new information; for example, in March 1991, he raised to Yitzhak Shamir the possibility of stationing U.S. troops on the Golan Heights.

Middle East Quarterly, June 1996

I guess I am the scrooge of the reviewers of The Politics of Diplomacy by James A. Baker III.

Given the positive things I have read about Secretary James Baker, I expected this book to be interesting, insightful and educational. I found the book to be as interesting as reading a phone book, with sentences aggrandizing Secretary Baker thrown in along the way.

I can't believe that in his 12 years of high-level public service for Presidents Reagan and Bush, that Mr. James Baker was consistently the most crafty, astute, worldly and knowledgeable of the leaders of the world, which is the impression I was left with after reading this book.

I did find one interesting tidbit in the book, however, which was that from the time George H. W. Bush was President Reagan's Vice President, Vice President Bush wanted to overthrow President Noriega of Panama.

After he was elected President in 1988, President Bush had the opportunity to overthrow President Noriega, which he appeared to do by mishandling negotiations with President Noriega and provoking President Noriega into a belligerent state. This example of toppling a sovereign state for personal, rather than national interest, reasons was copied by President George H. W. Bush's son, the current President Bush, who seemed to follow the same playbook with Iraq with different results, sadly.

I haven't yet given up on Secretary James Baker; I plan to read his new book, Work Hard, Study...and Keep Out of Politics! Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life. I hope the book contains some insights about Mr. Baker's decision-making as well as insights about other personalities he met along the way. If the book is 480 pages of self-aggrandizement, I may have to reach for the Alka-Seltzer to keep my dinner from spilling out onto the floor.

President Reagan came into office in January 1981 when interest rates had soared to 20%, dozens of American hostages were being held captive in Iran and inflation was raging- putting the "misery index" well into double digits and causing people to doubt the future of the United States. Four years under President Jimmy Carter had brought unpleasant consequences- and many people were looking for a fresh start. James Baker was part of the "Dream Team" that helped forge Reagan's agenda and put it into practice.

James Baker in "The Politics of Diplomacy" artfully takes us through those troubled times- when many people thought the Cold War could erupt into a volley of nucelar missiles between Washington and Moscow, when our economy was on life support- and people were hurting. Yet, we made it through- and enjoyed one of the longest periods of peacetime expansion this country has even known. Little known is Reagan's deep skills in negotiation, his insights into the human spirit which helped him "size up" Gorbachev and other Russian leaders- and prevail to win the Cold War and make the world safer for all. This book is an excellent- and detailed look behind the scenes which should be helpful to any lover of recent American history.

-Gene Pisasale,
Author of "Lafayette's Gold- The Lost Brandywine Treasure" and
"Vineyard Days"

The book is great, but this one line is worth its weight in gold for those who wonder why we spend $30 billion a yeear on diplomacy, $900 billion a year waging war, $60 billion a year on spies, and less than $600 million on open sources of information in 183 languages we don't speak:

"in terms of fine-turning our own work, staying abreast of the press comments was particularly important."

page 54.

See also:Art of Diplomacy: The American Experience
Preparing America's Foreign Policy for the 21st Century
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
The Eagle's Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World
Why the Rest Hates the West: Understanding the Roots of Global Rage
High Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them

Baker's memoir is open and honest. He has put together an excellent narrative analysis of the foreign policy of the Bush administration. In years to come the usefulness of this book will probably decline as more scholarly work appears, but Baker's story continues to be charming and detailed.

Though I read this book in 1995, after reading Colin Powell's "My American Journey," and Storming Norman's memoir, it was nice to pick it up again, eleven years later.

This is a communications book. And what can be more challenging than to influence entire countries, and even ancient adversaries to take even the most measured risks for peace?

In this memoir, Baker shows readers how he uses the three questions below to prepare for his proposed ideas:

1. Will we be able to build a domestic consensus in support of
it?
2. What kind of political reaction will it create in the
capitals of our adversaries and allies?
3. How will it change the nature of our political relations,
internationally?

Before communicating his proposal to the country or group that he needs to convince, Baker would "leak his ideals to the press" and to some other powerful sources, to get public reaction.

And, though this book is 672 pages, the factual information is presented in a light way through a great deal of down home humor, such as those in the quotes below:

"If the horse of the team don't move at the same speed, there'll be an accident," Francois Mitterand

"Allowing the two Germanies to work things out on their own in that kind of situation was, in my view, a recipe for a train wreck." James Baker (Referring to the unification)

"There's no end to what a man can accomplish if he doesn't care who gets the credit." Ronald Reagan

"What comes through is that the Soviets don't know how to square the circle. They're wrestling with it." Eduard Shevardnadze

"If a bullfrog had wings, it wouldn't scrape it's [a..s] on the ground." (James Baker sparring with Assad, in Damascus)

"If the dog hadn't stopped running, he wouldn't have caught the rabbit." (James Baker still trying to get Assad back to reality)

"The higher the monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind." (Meaning the bigger impact the decision, potentially has the more on will look at details. This could also mean that the more powerful your position is, the more you will be scrutinized)

"Now it was yes or my dead cat." James Baker (meaning yes or you will be blamed, if you don't agree)

This is a great source for negotiations, corporate politics, history, and Sociolinguistics.