Independent Diplomat: Dispatches from an Unaccountable Elite

by Carne Ross

Although diplomats negotiate more and more aspects of world affairs―from trade and security issues to health, human rights, and the environment―we have little idea of, and even less control over, what they are doing in our name. In Independent Diplomat, Carne Ross provides a compelling account of what's wrong with contemporary diplomacy and offers a bold new vision of how it might be put right. For more than fifteen years, Ross was a British diplomat on the frontlines of numerous international crises, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war in Afghanistan, and the buildup to the invasion of Iraq, over which he eventually resigned from the British civil service. In 2005, he founded Independent Diplomat, a nonprofit advisory firm that offers diplomatic advice and assistance to poor, politically marginalized or inexperienced governments and political groups, including Kosovo, Somaliland, and the Polisario movement in the Western Sahara, as well as to NGOs and other international institutions. Drawing on vivid episodes from his career in Oslo, Bonn, Kabul, and at the UN Security Council, Ross reveals that many of the assumptions that laypersons and even government officials hold about the diplomatic corps are wrong. He argues passionately and persuasively that the institutions of contemporary diplomacy―foreign ministries, the UN, the EU, and the like―often exclude those they most affect. He exposes the very limited range of evidence upon which diplomats base their reports, and the profoundly closed and undemocratic nature of the world's diplomatic forums. As a diplomat, Ross was encouraged to see the world in a narrow way in which the power of states and interests overwhelmed or excluded more complex, sophisticated ways of understanding. As Ross demonstrates, however, the reality of diplomatic negotiations, whether at the UN or among the warlords of Afghanistan, shows different forces at play, factors ignored in reductionist descriptions and academic theories of "international relations." To cope with the complexities of today's world, diplomats must open their doors―and minds―to a far wider range of individuals and groups, concerns and ideas, than the current and increasingly dysfunctional system allows.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Political Science, International Relations

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2007

About the author

Ross joined the British Foreign Office and worked at the UK embassy in Bonn, Germany before moving to the UK mission to the UN, where he worked from December 1997 to June 2002. At the UN, Ross served as the UK delegation's expert on the Middle East. Ross also worked on several important Security Council resolutions such as SCR 1284 which rewrote the Council's Iraq policy and established UNMOVIC, the weapons inspection body. He also negotiated for the UK the resolution establishing the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and the Council's resolution of 12 September 2001 condemning the attacks of the day before. Ross then served as Strategy Coordinator for the UN in Kosovo (UNMIK) where he devised and led a joint UN and government policy to implement a series of standards to improve governance, the rule of law and human rights protection, and advised the Secretary-General's Special Representative on diplomatic and political tactics.

He left the British civil service in 2004 after 15 years of service. He is now a supporter to the UN Parliamentary Assembly. In 2004, he founded the non-governmental organisation Independent Diplomat, the world's first non-profit diplomatic advisory group which advises marginalized countries and groups around the world http://www.independentdiplomat.org/

Reviews

[Leif · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know, the promise was great but in the end, the personal experiences were the most fascinating and they were buttered pretty thin. The political philosophy wasn't revelatory, nor were the messages surprising. I just wanted more stories from the front lines!

[n · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book details a lot of the author's growing discomfort working in the UN and with international diplomacy through formal organisations. Each essay focuses on slightly different topics, though most of them are interconnected and refer back to each other.

A lot of it is pretty interesting from an 'insider' perspective, but it also doesn't really go far enough. Perhaps it was because I was introduced to Carne Ross through It's Going Down, but I was expecting something... more.

It completes with an essay about their Independent Diplomat organisation, which is... I guess useful. But I don't think it does what the author's pointing out is the problem. Just because Ross helps the government of Kosovo in the UN, it doesn't mean that they're helping Kosovars in the world. Perhaps it's making it slightly easier, but it's also still maintaining the hierarchies that people still suffer under. Maybe the context is slightly different, maybe sometimes there are 'good' people in power, but... It doesn't stop to deal with the consideration of what happens when someone manipulates the goodwill they've built through seemingly generous acts? What happens when, if that person was 'good', the next person takes over and their work is for naught because it's so easy to destroy things under hierarchical power structures?

Certainly those were considerations?

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Key takeaways:

- Modern diplomacy an outdated, elitist system with almost zero accountability between those that do the job and the people their work is impacting

- Modern diplomacy a relic of Napoleanic France - world still divided into strict nation states that are the only legitimized form of human organization - this leads to zero accountability for collective problems (like terrorism and climate change)

- Diplomacy needs modernization - a shift towards user-centered design - and localized solutions to problems

[Susan Ross]

honest it seems. listen to his interviews. think i heard him on russell brand's podcast

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good on Ross for denouncing diplomatic BS, but through his writing style, it's clear that Ross hasn't yet let go of the diplomatic style he so strongly opposes. Independent Diplomat doesn't teach us anything new. Anyone who follows (international) current events or has any background at all in politics already knows that diplomatic relations involves forfeiting one's own beliefs for the "nation"'s, kissing ass, and finding ways to say things without actually saying anything. I also found that this book quickly became redundant as Ross re-emphasized the diplomat's use of the words "we" and "our" on every second page. And, on a less important note: quotation mark overload.

[malvin aldy · Rating 4 out of 5]

carne ross, an Englishman diplomat, he explains that being diplomat is not always being elegant, but also needs extraordinary capability to face everything in this world.
this book is very good for junior diplomat or people who want to know the real world of diplomacy, we don't just talk on the table but also have to be ready in every situation

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chilling front-row account of what actually happens in diplomacy. Far behind closed doors an obscene level of ignorance and apathy helps explain a lot about the state of the planet today. And no one feels personally responsible, as they are "just part of the State".

[Adit Harditya · Rating 3 out of 5]

great inspirations for new slave like me..hehe..so far the book tells great experiences but lil bit subjective and narrow views on traditional issues.

[Yvonne Mewengkang · Rating 4 out of 5]

The other side of the story... Interesting!!!

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

He really gets it. I could have written this.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

How diplomacy really works. How to save the world in a practical realistic way.

[Ingram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but succinct book about the disconnect between diplomats and the people they are supposed to represent.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A former insider's view into the disfunction of the UN Security Council, concluding with an outline of a way forward.

[Maja Šoštarić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant. Wonderful.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/822773.html