Great Power Diplomacy

From the beginning of time, human societies have found themselves confronted by enemies too numerous or ferocious to defeat solely by force of arms.

In these dramatic moments, wise leaders have turned to diplomacy to rearrange the gameboard in their favour and stymie seemingly unstoppable foes. In Great Power Diplomacy, American historian and diplomat A. Wess Mitchell recounts the forgotten story of how history’s most legendary empires have used diplomacy as a tool of grand strategy to outwit, outmaneuver, and outlast militarily superior opponents.

Through fifteen centuries of history, Great Power Diplomacy recreates the perilous junctures, colorful personalities, and intricate statecraft that led to some of history’s most stunning diplomatic achievements – and greatest disasters. The protagonists include giants like Richelieu, Metternich, Bismarck, and Kissinger, but also a lesser-known cast of scoundrels, eunuchs, drunkards, and fools. At every turn, fortune favoured those great powers with the foresight and dexterity to build winning alliances, splinter enemy coalitions, and, when necessary, make peace with their bitterest foes.

Diplomacy of this kind has become a lost art in recent years as Western elites embraced the illusion that globalisation and the spread of democracy would create a borderless world where nations would live in harmony and war would be abolished from the human story. But, as Great Power Diplomacy reveals, we will need to rediscover the secrets of skillful statecraft as the world enters an unstable new era in which continent-sized great powers compete for territory, resources, and prestige. By recalling diplomacy’s rich past, we can equip ourselves for a more dangerous future.

About the Author

A. Wess Mitchell is a historian and diplomat. He served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs and is the author of The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire (Princeton). He is cofounder and principal at The Marathon Initiative, a think tank that focuses on U.S. diplomatic, military, and economic strategies.