So U.S. diplomats write well. So what?
Fareed Zakaria today goes after the "remarkably broad consensus" that the Wikileaks dump has done great damage to American diplomacy. In so doing, however, he echoes what might be called a sub-consensus among the journalistic and chattering classes: American diplomats write well! In fact, they might be damned good journalists! Or even novelists! The cables, ...
Fareed Zakaria today goes after the "remarkably broad consensus" that the Wikileaks dump has done great damage to American diplomacy. In so doing, however, he echoes what might be called a sub-consensus among the journalistic and chattering classes: American diplomats write well! In fact, they might be damned good journalists! Or even novelists! The cables, he writes, are "often well wrought."
Fareed Zakaria today goes after the "remarkably broad consensus" that the Wikileaks dump has done great damage to American diplomacy. In so doing, however, he echoes what might be called a sub-consensus among the journalistic and chattering classes: American diplomats write well! In fact, they might be damned good journalists! Or even novelists! The cables, he writes, are "often well wrought."
The account of a wedding in Dagestan filed by William Burns, now the No. 3 person at the State Department, is — as Garton Ash writes — straight out of Evelyn Waugh. When foreigners encounter U.S. diplomats and listen to their bland recitation of policy, they would do well to keep in mind that behind the facade lie some very clever minds.
Zakaria’s not alone in finding the quality of diplomatic prose reassuring. Carne Ross, the former British diplomat turned ubiquitous commentator on Wikileaks, is agog over the drafting skill of the Foggy Bottom set. A few days ago, he tweeted, "impressed by high quality of drafting (a britishdiplo fetish) by US diplomats, contra to those who usually diss State Dept." The thinking here appears to run like this: good, colorful writing evidences intelligence which in turn evidences effectiveness. It’s a chain of logic that is fairly pleasing to journalists.
Color me at least mildly skeptical that the vividness of State Department prose is a good indicator of diplomatic skill or predictor of success. In fact, the impression one gets is that cable-drafting is something of an aesthetic exercise that, at times, may have more to do with wowing and amusing colleagues than advancing the national interest.
David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist
More from Foreign Policy
Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?
The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.
Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World
It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.
It’s a New Great Game. Again.
Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.
Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing
The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.
Sign up for Morning Brief
Foreign Policy’s flagship daily newsletter with what’s coming up around the world today. Delivered weekdays.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.
