Rodric Braithwaite

The true diplomat considers the future more than the present

Among the ‘Olympians’ Robert Cooper most admires are George Marshall and Jean Monnet, whose tireless efforts helped rebuild post-war Europe

Jean Monnet, the French diplomat whose vision helped reconcile France and Germany after the second world war. Credit: Getty Images 
issue 20 February 2021
  • Comments

  • The Ambassadors: Thinking About Diplomacy from Richelieu to Modern Times

    Robert Cooper

    Weidenfeld & Nicolson, pp. 576, £25

The 17th-century diplomat Sir Henry Wotton said that an ambassador was ‘an honest man sent to lie abroad for his country’. It is a neatly punning definition. An ambassador is a messenger, who has to live (lie) abroad long enough to understand the interests, the preoccupations and the driving emotions of the people he deals with.

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

TRY 3 MONTHS FOR $5
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Start your 3-month trial today for just $5 and subscribe to more than one view

Read next

Trending

Damian Thompson

The knives are out for the conclave front-runner Parolin

The 133 cardinal electors who will process into the Sistine Chapel tomorrow are feeling battered and confused by the prospect of choosing a new pope in a ruthless digital age. Many of them show it in the faces, flinching at the sight of the press. The cardinal-electors must elect a man of shining moral integrity.

More on diplomatic history

Also by Rodric Braithwaite

Latest

Comments

Join the debate for just £1 a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in