
Foreign Service
Five Decades on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy
James Dobbins(Author)
Brookings Institution (Publisher)
Published on 6. July 2017
Book
Hardback
356 pages
978-0-8157-3004-0 (ISBN)
Description
A behind the scenes look at 50 years of US diplomacy.
From Vietnam in the 1960s to Afghanistan in this decade, James Dobbins was on the frontlines of American diplomacy and worked to advance U.S. national interests in some of the world's most difficult and troubled arenas.
In Foreign Service, Dobbins takes the reader behind the scenes at the Vietnam peace talks, the darkest days of the Cold War, the reunification of Germany, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the U.S. military interventions in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Haiti, Kosovo, and Somalia. He provides a thoughtful insider's account of all these ventures, analyzes the sources of both success and failure, and provides incisive portraits of many of the chief actors.
Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama turned repeatedly to Dobbins as a diplomatic trouble-shooter with the right instincts and experience to help find solutions for seemingly irresolvable problems. Foreign Service vividly captures why they did.
From Vietnam in the 1960s to Afghanistan in this decade, James Dobbins was on the frontlines of American diplomacy and worked to advance U.S. national interests in some of the world's most difficult and troubled arenas.
In Foreign Service, Dobbins takes the reader behind the scenes at the Vietnam peace talks, the darkest days of the Cold War, the reunification of Germany, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the U.S. military interventions in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Haiti, Kosovo, and Somalia. He provides a thoughtful insider's account of all these ventures, analyzes the sources of both success and failure, and provides incisive portraits of many of the chief actors.
Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama turned repeatedly to Dobbins as a diplomatic trouble-shooter with the right instincts and experience to help find solutions for seemingly irresolvable problems. Foreign Service vividly captures why they did.
Reviews / Votes
Dobbins's inside stories of policy debates over Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan are insightful and illuminating. And he is admirably candid in describing some of his own crisis-management advice..."- Survival, 60.6 (2018)More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
666 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8157-3004-0 (9780815730040)
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 Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2017
1st Edition
Brookings Institution
€34.49
Available for download

E-Book
06/2017
1st Edition
Brookings Institution
€34.49
Available for download
Persons
James Dobbins served as Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, Special Assistant to the President for the Western Hemisphere, Special Adviser to the President and Secretary of State for the Balkans, Ambassador to the European Community, and special envoy for Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo, and Afghanistan. He holds the Distinguished Chair for Diplomacy and Security at the RAND Corporation.
Content
Contents:
Foreword, Robert B. Zoellick
Preface
1. Pacific Youth
2. Apprenticeship
3. The Seventh Floor
4. Provincial Interlude
5. On Turtle Bay
6. Upstairs
7. Downstairs
8. Postgraduate Studies
9. Missile Diplomacy
10. A Small Town in Germany
11. A World Reordered
12. And Disordered Anew
13. From Community to Union
14. Black Hawk Down
15. Entering Haiti
16. Exiting Haiti
17. A Lesson in Divided Government
18. Hemispheric Interlude
19. War in Kosovo
20. Peace in Kosovo
21. The Fall of Milosevic
22. Mending Transatlantic Relations
23, A New Administration
24. Another War, Another Assignment
25. Losing the Peace: Afghanistan
26. Losing the Peace: Iraq
27. Afghanistan Again
28. Reflections
Index
Foreword, Robert B. Zoellick
Preface
1. Pacific Youth
2. Apprenticeship
3. The Seventh Floor
4. Provincial Interlude
5. On Turtle Bay
6. Upstairs
7. Downstairs
8. Postgraduate Studies
9. Missile Diplomacy
10. A Small Town in Germany
11. A World Reordered
12. And Disordered Anew
13. From Community to Union
14. Black Hawk Down
15. Entering Haiti
16. Exiting Haiti
17. A Lesson in Divided Government
18. Hemispheric Interlude
19. War in Kosovo
20. Peace in Kosovo
21. The Fall of Milosevic
22. Mending Transatlantic Relations
23, A New Administration
24. Another War, Another Assignment
25. Losing the Peace: Afghanistan
26. Losing the Peace: Iraq
27. Afghanistan Again
28. Reflections
Index