The Foreign Service Journal, October 2003

losing even the shrinking con- stituency it still enjoys. David Casavis works for the U.S. Department of Commerce in New York City. He was recently detailed to the Department of Homeland Security. Ambassadorial Portraits Diplomatic Dance: The New Embassy Life in America Gail Scott, Fulcrum Publishing, 1999, $27.95, hardcover, 272 pages. R EVIEWED BY T ATIANA C. G FOELLER Why, you may be wondering, is the Journal reviewing a book published in 1999? And why does the Four Seasons Hotel still feature it promi- nently in its gift shop? I would offer three main reasons. First and foremost, because Diplo- matic Dance: The New Embassy Life in America is that rare book which is both entertaining and wise, full of pithy anecdotes. Its author, Gail Scott, is an accomplished journalist and lecturer who writes often on diplomatic topics. For example, Scott passes on a par- ticularly astute observation from the Egyptian ambassador that remains true today: “CNN is the enemy of the new ambassador.” As the British ambassador observes, “in Washington you are not a diplomat but a lobbyist” — a dictum exemplified by the Swedish ambassador, who provides a superb tutorial on “how to get things done in D.C.” that even non-diplo- mats will find useful. You will not want to miss the fasci- nating conversation with the Russian ambassador (previously the Soviet ambassador) on what it was like for the country he represents to change iden- tity. Or the Egyptian ambassador’s reminiscences of participating in the negotiations that produced the Camp David peace accords 20 years before, and his warning — even more pre- scient than he could have known four years ago — that by supporting Islamic fundamentalists against the Soviets in Afghanistan, the U.S. had “let the genie out of the bottle.” Second, the book epitomizes the “new diplomacy” of the Internet Age, centered on human contacts and use of the media, and open as never before to female practitioners. Many of these diplomats have used their personalities to become memorable and therefore influential in promoting causes. For example, did you know that the British ambassador's wife's children by a previous marriage had been kidnapped by their German father and that she is a tireless cam- paigner for family reunification? Similarly, the Brazilian ambassador was disabled by a stroke and is a poster child for the ability of disabled persons to be extremely effective diplomats. I was particularly fascinated by the portraits Scott draws of Washington's handful of female ambassadors, repre- senting such varied countries as Singapore, Macedonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, and Ecuador. Those profiles demonstrate that female ambassadors are as diverse in their personalities, backgrounds, marital status, and parenting responsibilities (or lack thereof) as their male counter- parts. And tying up neatly the three main characteristics of the “new diplo- macy,” one ambassador tells Scott that female diplomats actually have an advantage now, as they tend to be more flexible, comfortable with the media, and people-oriented. Obviously many of Scott’s inter- view subjects have come and gone since 1999, and there are certain pre- dictions which are already badly out of date. Knowing how far Uzbekistan and many other former Soviet republics have fallen since the heady days of independence, one winces at the rosy picture the Uzbek ambas- sador paints of his nascent country, which he cockily predicts will be bet- ter than Russia in all aspects, including freedom of religion and respect for human rights. Finally, while many other books have been written about diplomacy since this one appeared, none has been able to replace this one as an extremely useful reference, full of embassy addresses, phone numbers, Web sites, national days, currency names, etc. My only suggestion for when Diplomatic Dance is reprinted and updated, as I am sure it will be, is to add the date of independence for each cited country. A member of the Journal Editorial Board, Tatiana C. Gfoeller is the direc- tor of the Office of Multilateral Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Among other pub- lications, she is the author of United by the Caspian: Pursuing U.S. National Interests in Central Asia and the Caucasus. ■ 66 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 3 B O O K S This book epitomizes the “new diplomacy” of the Internet Age, centered on human contacts and use of the media, and open as never before to female practitioners.