The Crisis of Diplomacy
Crisis at the Top, Challenge from Below
Traditional Diplomacy

“Diplomacy” has traditionally been an affair of
nation states.
 interaction
- negotiation between “countries”
 carried out by professional or appointed specialists
 day to day conflicts, or joint problem solving
 summit meetings, treaties, declarations of war, etc
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In colonial era: Pax Brittanica vs German empire
In post-WWII: Pax Americana vs Soviets, allies
Diplomacy in Keynesian State - I
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Central role of nationstate in int’l adjustment reinforced
role of diplomacy in negotiating distribution of adjustment
E.g., how much a govt in a country running a trade deficit
should slow the economy, vs
How much a govt in a country running a trade surplus
should stimulate their economy
E.g., US vs Germany
E.g., Negotiation of GATT, etc.
Diplomacy in Keynesian State - II
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Cold War US vs USSR, Bloc vs Bloc
Bilateralism
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Foreign aid,
Military intervention, e.g., Vietnam
Multilateralism:
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Public
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United Nations, OECD, EC, World Court
Military action: Korean War
Private
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Institute for Pacific Relations
Bilderberger Group
Trilateral Commission
“Foreign Policy” Making

Central role of nation state has meant necessity in
each country for specialized experts in “foreign
affairs”, professional elite of specialized experts
 e.g.,
in Europe independent of regime
 e.g., in US different teams for different Presidents

Prior to & after WWII in US
 A foreign
policy “establishment”
self-reproducing elite
 without & within govt, moves from one to other
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The Old Establishment - I
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Readings:
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Domhoff: “How the foreign policy elite make FP”
Hodgson: “The Establishment”
Hughes: “The Twilight of the Establishment”
Structure:
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Private: corporate, gatherings (CFR), institutes (foundations, etc.)
Public: Executive (President, NSC, State Dept)
Pyrimidal: decision makers at top, data gatherers at bottom, sifters
& sorters in between
Top defines problems, sets framework & limits spectrum of options
(e.g., communism has to be contained, question is how)
The Old Establishment - II
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Character of members
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Common Tendencies (from Hodgson)
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originally from upper class, int’l business
common education & cultural background
self-selecting, self-reproducing, bipartisan
Policy: internationalism (against isolationism)
Aspiration: moral & political leadership of world
Instinct: for the center
Technique: work out of public eye, behind closed doors
Basic Goal: Globalization of Western capitalism
 Globalization of Keynesian State
Crisis of the Establishment
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Crisis in US came with Vietnam War
Establishment had had consensus (with a few
exceptions) since 1952 NSC Memo on US Policy
& Kennan’s “X” article
Grass roots resistance, both in Vietnam & within
the US changed balance of costs & benefits
 Resistance
raised costs tremendously
 Benefits from future investment & trade receded
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Establishment split over changing policy
Hodgson’s Chronology
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1965: (after Tonkin) Acheson & Cutler proposals for
settlement (rejected)
1968: (after Tet) gathering of elitevoted against current
policy
1970: (after invasion of Cambodia) establishment tries to
talk to Kissinger, snubbed they spoke out in public
1971: (after Mansfield Amendment) elite backed
commitment
1971: Bundy critiqued for not recognizing errors
[1971: Ellsberg releases Pentagon Papers, reveals lies]
Consequences
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Alienation of young from socialization into elite
Decline in popular respect for wisdom of elite
Widespread perception of govt lying to the people
Deligitimazation of Elite, of Presidency
Hughes attributes all this to:
 spread
of education
 spread of public knowledge via media

Feeds “anti-internationalism”
Masters of War
(1963)
Come you masters of war
You that built the big guns
You that build the death pllanes
You that build all the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like its your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatenin' my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
You might say I'm unlearned
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I'll follow your casket
On a pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your death bed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
Till I'm sure that you're dead.
Bob Dylan,
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan,
Columbia Records, 1963
(CS 8786)
I Ain't Marchin' Anymore
(1965)
Oh, I marched to the battle of New Orleans
At the end of the early British Wars
The young land started growin'
The young blood started flowin'
But I ain't a marchin' anymore.
For I killed my share of injuns
In a thousand different fights
I was there at the Little Big Horn
I heard many men a lyin'
I saw many more a dyin'
But I ain't a marchin' anymore.
It's always the old
Who lead us to the wars
Always the young to fall
Now look at all we won
With the saber and the gun
Tell me is it worth it all?
For I stole California
From the Mexican land
Fought in the bloody civil war
Yes, I even killed my brothers
And too many others,
But I ain't a marchin' anymore.
For I marched to the battles of the German trench
In a war that was bound to end all wars
Oh I musta killed a million men
And now they want me back again,
But I ain't marchin' anymore.
It's always the old
Who lead us to the wars
Always the young to fall
Now look at all we won
With the saber and the gun
Tell me is it worth it all?
For I flew the final mission
In the Japanese skies
Set off the mighty mushroom roar
When I saw the cities burnin'
I knew that I was learnin'
That I ain't a marchin' anymore.
Now the labor leaders' screamin'
When they close the missile plants
United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore
Call it peace, or call it treason
Call it love, or call it reason,
But I ain't a marchin' anymore,
No, I ain't a marchin' anymore.
Phil Ochs,
There but for Fortune,
Electra/Asylum Records, 1989
(960832-2)
Kissinger - Establishment Split
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Kissinger the establishment man went his own
way, cut ties, functional links with establish.
“Lone Ranger” foreign policy
 Content
critiquedby splinters
 Style critiqued by George Ball & others
 Alienated foreign allies
Vietnam
 China
 Ending of Bretton Woods
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