Theorizing Diplomacy and Diplomats on Their Own Terms (original) (raw)

2011, International Studies Review

Diplomatic Theory of International Relations. By Paul Sharp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 339 pp., 90.00hardcover(ISBN−13:978−0−521−76026−3),90.00 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-0-521-76026-3), 90.00hardcover(ISBN−13:978−0−521−76026−3),32.99 paperback (ISBN-13: 978-0-521-75755-3). Sharp's basic thesis in Diplomatic Theory of International Relations is that it is possible to identify a specifically diplomatic tradition of thinking, or theory, about international relations, one that contributes to international relations in particular and to human relations in general. Sharp grounds this unconventional notion of diplomatic theory, which is more tacit than explicit, in the leading ideas of diplomats and those who study them, arguing that it arises from “what diplomats themselves have had to say about international relations” (p. 7). In other words, diplomatic theory is “a coherent and distinctive set of propositions about international relations” (p. 7) that emerges organically from the diaries, histories, and memoirs of diplomats. In developing his thesis, Sharp challenges the supremacy of state-based realism. He also deals with the enduring problem that, even for students of international relations, diplomacy and diplomats remain something of a mystery, one that is compounded by the paradoxical inability of diplomats to “provide much insight into how and why diplomacy works” (p. 2). Sharp, however, chooses not to explicate and demystify diplomacy and diplomats by seeking easy solutions in universal claims. Rather, he chooses an unorthodox path, inviting us to consider the limits and complexities inherent in thinking and acting diplomatically. In Part One, Sharp&#;s theoretical framework draws directly on English School theory and method, with assessments of how diplomacy and diplomats …