Statecraft: And How to Restore America's Standing in the World

How did it come to pass that, not so long after 9/11 brought the free world to our side, U.S. foreign policy is in a shambles? In this thought-provoking book, the renowned peace negotiator Dennis Ross argues that the Bush administration's problems stem from its inability to use the tools of statecraft--diplomatic, economic, and military--to advance our interests.

Statecraft is as old as politics: Plato wrote about it, Machiavelli practiced it. After the demise of Communism, some predicted that statecraft would wither away. But Ross explains that in the globalized world--with its fluid borders, terrorist networks, and violent unrest--statecraft is necessary simply to keep the peace.

In illuminating chapters, he outlines how statecraft helped shape a new world order after 1989. He shows how the failure of statecraft in Iraq and the Middle East has undercut the United States internationally, and makes clear that only statecraft can check the rise of China and the danger of a nuclear Iran. He draws on his expertise to reveal the art of successful negotiation. And he shows how the next president could resolve today's problems and define a realistic, ambitious foreign policy.

Statecraft is essential reading for anyone interested in foreign policy--or concerned about America's place in the world. Dennis Ross, Middle East envoy for George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, is now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Foreign Affairs called his first book, The Missing Peace, a major contribution to the diplomatic history of the twentieth century. A Choice Outstanding Academic Title In this thought-provoking book, the peace negotiator Dennis Ross argues that the Bush administration's problems stem from its inability to use the tools of statecraft--diplomatic, economic, and military--to advance our interests.

Statecraft is as old as politics: Plato wrote about it, Machiavelli practiced it. After the demise of Communism, some predicted that statecraft would wither away. But Ross explains that in the globalized world--with its fluid borders, terrorist networks, and violent unrest--statecraft is necessary simply to keep the peace.

Ross outlines how statecraft helped shape a new world order after 1989. He shows how the failure of statecraft in Iraq and the Middle East has undercut the United States internationally, and makes clear that only statecraft can check the rise of China and the danger of a nuclear Iran. He draws on his expertise to reveal the art of successful negotiation. And he shows how the next president could resolve today's problems and define a realistic, ambitious foreign policy. Many may speak of statecraft, but few actually understand it. Dennis Ross is one of our country's best practitioners of statecraft . . . He offers important insights into what made for good and bad statecraft in the past, and offers an extraordinary guide for how to employ its tools. Even more importantly, he applies it prospectively to demonstrate what needs to be done (and how to do it) on challenges like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iranian nuclear weapons. Rarely has a book been more timely or urgently needed.--Bill Clinton

Liberally drawing on his personal experiences in U.S.-Soviet affairs, the Gulf War, and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Ross explains the arts of negotiation and mediation. Statecraft is especially useful for readers lost in today's mostly strategy-free foreign policy environment. Ross identifies the key ingredients of effective statecraft: clearly defined objectives and policy consensus within government; accurate, realistic assessments of obstacles and of the resources required to overcome them; and the systematic integration of all tools of power in a sustained and intense diplomatic effort . . . An important contribution to the vital debate about how the next president should define and implement foreign policy. One can only hope that this debate will include experienced and adult participants who will tale inspiration from Ross' book.--Chester A. Crocker, Foreign Affairs

An important book about how the absence of statecraft in Iraq and in the Middle East has led to the present deterioration in America's international image throughout most of the world . . . In several well-crafted chapters, Ross details how the Bush 41 administration used statecraft to overcome Soviet resistance to a unified Germany, and to create a coalition that was able to confront Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, without the disastrous results that embody the current debacle in Iraq . . . This timely and instructive book makes it clear that if there is to be a resolution of the many conflicts faced by the United States in the near future, statecraft must no longer be a lost art, but as Ross concludes, 'it is time to rediscover it.'--Jewish Book World

Statecraft is full of insights about how the world works and why U.S. foreign policy doesn't. Dennis Ross provides a refreshing prescription for renewing U.S. leadership. A brilliant book at just the right time.--Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State

Many may speak of statecraft, but few actually understand it. Dennis Ross is one of our country's best practitioners of statecraft. Now he has written about it. He offers important insights into what made for good and bad statecraft in the past, and offers an extraordinary guide for how to employ its tools. Even more importantly, he applies it prospectively to demonstrate what needs to be done (and how to do it) on challenges like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iranian nuclear weapons. Rarely has a book been more timely or urgently needed.--Bill Clinton

For the past two decades, Dennis Ross has been a participant in or close observer of the major events in U.S. foreign policy. His new book offers both insightful modern history and a senior practitioner's guidance on how to deploy America's multi-facete

"Ross, the Clinton administration's Middle East envoy (The Missing Peace) makes the seemingly dreary, opaque processes of international diplomacy as coherent, absorbing and occasionally dramatic as a procedural thriller. He conceives of statecraft as a subtle orchestration of foreign policy 'assets,' including intelligence and analysis, diplomacy, sanctions, economic aid and military pressure. Most of all, it requires negotiations: the book's middle section is a lengthy tutorial on the nuts and bolts of epic negotiating, Ross's forte, complete with tips on how and when to stage angry outbursts at the conference table. The author illustrates with case studies of foreign policy triumphs and disasters (many of which he had a hand in), from German reunification to the war in Iraq. The book is an avowedly 'neo-liberal' rebuke of Bush's unilateralist, 'faith-based' foreign policy blundering. Indeed, with its call for virtuoso state craftsmanship and its detailed proposals on everything from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or Iranian nuclear ambitions to relations with China, it could well be Ross's application for the 2009 secretary of state opening. If so, it's an impressive one, full of canny, judicious insights into the making of foreign policy. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

In this thought-provoking book, renowned peace negotiator Ross argues that the Bush administrations problems stem from its inability to use the tools of statecraft--diplomatic, economic, and military--to advance the nations interests around the world.