THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2024 85 Amb. Eizenstat also has extensive experience in resolving Holocaust claims and related disputes, gained during service as the special representative on Holocaust-era issues during the Clinton administration, and has served as an expert adviser on the subject to subsequent administrations. In this book, Eizenstat examines 12 cases, including Northern Ireland, Angola and Namibia, the Balkans, a major trade negotiation, a lengthy effort for compensation for Holocaust assets, and more. While the book is large, it is readable and accessible for students, teachers, and practitioners. As such, it is likely to be—and deserves to be—a staple for years for the teaching of this aspect of diplomacy. Each chapter centers on a lengthy negotiation or series of related negotiations, such as on climate, some of which lasted years. This approach is bound to lead to some superficiality. Specialists or those who were involved in the negotiations can point out lapses or question some points in various accounts, such as in the chapter dealing with Northern Ireland where a colleague involved in the negotiations disputes the role of former Prime Minister John Major. Some may note that the chapter on the Abraham Accords focuses only on the achievement and not on what was left completely out—the Palestinians, a lacunae that leaves major questions about the long-term utility of the accords. Those using the book for teaching will find ample scope for deeper analysis of particular negotiations and debate about many. But that there is room for debate and for criticism does not lessen the book’s value. As a model for the teaching and consideration of what makes a negotiation and negotiator successful or limits the potential for success, the book is a notable achievement. This is particularly the case because of the variety of negotiations from which Eizenstat draws common lessons. The chapters on negotiations he took part in for Holocaust assets and the Paris climate accords are particularly valuable because those are different from and much less known than, for example, those on the Balkans or South Africa that have been the subject of extensive study and writing. From this range of different negotiations, Eizenstat draws broad lessons. Each chapter reflects on individual lessons from the case, but perhaps most interesting is the 35-page conclusion that pulls together common lessons from the case studies. Some of these are areas in which the U.S. has sometimes been weak, such as having concerned allies at the table or really understanding the country and mind of the other party. Vietnam and Afghanistan come to mind as examples. Some are debatable. BOOKS Understanding Negotiations: A Primer The Art of Diplomacy: How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements That Changed the World Stuart E. Eizenstat, Rowman and Littlefield, 2024, $35.00/ hardcover, e-book available, 520 pages. Reviewed by Ronald E. Neumann There are many books on negotiations. What makes former diplomat and negotiator Stuart E. Eizenstat’s book stand out is the combination of the breadth of the different negotiations he reflects on, the personal knowledge he brings from his own experience and interviews with senior negotiators, and the distillation of their common lessons. The Art of Diplomacy is ambitious in scope and based on a vast number of interviews. The author draws on a broad and deep experience in national and international affairs. Currently a partner and senior counsel at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Covington & Burling, Ambassador Eizenstat is a former deputy secretary of the Treasury (1999-2001), under secretary of State for economic affairs (1997-1999), under secretary of Commerce for international trade (1996-1997), U.S. Ambassador to the European Union (1993-1996), and White House domestic affairs adviser (1977-1981). As under secretary of State for economic affairs, he led the U.S. delegation at the third session of the Conference of the Parties in Japan, which concluded with adoption of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. This readable and ambitious book is a significant schievement in the understanding of negotiations.
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