In "Independent Diplomat" Carne Ross offers a compelling new account - and vision - of the conduct of foreign policy and diplomacy from the inside. As diplomats arbitrate more and more of the world's business, we have little idea, and even less control, of what they are doing in our name. His book aims to redress this imbalance. Ross was a diplomat on the front line of many of today's most pressing issues, from Israel/Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq, over which he eventually resigned from the British Foreign Office. He contends that the institutions of contemporary diplomacy - foreign ministries, the UN or EU - often exclude those most affected by the discussions within. As a diplomat, he was encouraged and taught to see the world in a narrow and singular way: as one of states and interests, excluding more complex, sophisticated - and human - ways of understanding. Ross demonstrates how the reality of negotiation at the UN - or with warlords in Afghanistan - reveals very different forces at play, factors ignored in contemporary and reductionist descriptions or academic theories of 'international relations'.
To cope with the complexities of today's world, diplomats must open their doors - and minds. Illustrated with vivid episodes from his career - from the UN Security Council in New York to Kabul - Ross offers a refreshing critique of what's wrong with contemporary diplomacy and how it might be put right. Since resigning from the Foreign Office over the Iraq war, Carne Ross has founded a unique new initiative in international relations, a non-profit global advisory network to help the disadvantaged be heard in the closed corridors of international diplomacy.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
'This is a rare and honest book about real-life diplomacy, reported from thecoal-face. Ross diagnoses much that is wrong with the way diplomacy ispractised today, and offers some cogent-and urgent-solutions.' -GeorgeSoros, The Soros Foundation, New York'Carne Ross's book fills a significant need in the literature on the theory andpractice of contemporary diplomacy. There have been numbers of valuablecritical works on issues in contemporary diplomacy, but a limiting factorhas been that they speak from the 'outside', as it were, offering analyticalobservations rather than recording experiences and using them as a basis fora more richly-informed critique. Independent Diplomat promises to lift theveil from practices and institutions which of their nature have been shroudedin secrecy, if not exactly in mystery.' -Professor William Maley, AM, Director,Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, Australian National University'[Ross] exposes the absurdity, the ignorance and indifference of internationalbureaucracies, quietly and with clear-sighted accuracy. His prose is ironic,measured and elegant. The integrity, the nuance of his account and his selfawarenessmake him impressive not just as a writer but as a person.' -RoryStewart, author, The Places in Between'In his stunning insight into the surreal world of British diplomacy, Carne Ross,who resigned from the Foreign Office in disillusion over the Blair government'sdisgraceful role in the United Nations debate before the Iraq war,writes about this emerging multilateral world in his book, Independent Diplomat.He calls for the creation of an elected UN parliamentary assembly whichwould initially have rights of consultation but which would eventually have tobe given direct democratic oversight of the UN and its agencies. Ross drawsheavily on the experience of the European Union in this context. He rightlydraws attention to the increasingly important role of the directly electedEuropean parliament in calling the EU institutions to account. However, thisprocess has only begun.' -The Guardian
Reihe
Sprache
Verlagsort
Maße
Höhe: 186 mm
Breite: 123 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-85065-843-6 (9781850658436)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
CARNE ROSS is a trained negotiator and economist and the founder and director of the Independent Diplomat. He has over fifteen years of diplomatic experience in the British Foreign Office and the United Nations.
