diplomacy summary

Understand diplomacy, its methods, and purpose

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see diplomacy.

Franklin at the court of France
Benjamin Franklin at the court of France, 1778, engraving after a painting by Hobens.

diplomacy, Art of conducting relationships for gain without conflict. It is the chief instrument of foreign policy. Its methods include secret negotiation by accredited envoys (though political leaders also negotiate) and international agreements and laws. Its use predates recorded history. The goal of diplomacy is to further the state’s interests as dictated by geography, history, and economics. Safeguarding the state’s independence, security, and integrity is of prime importance; preserving the widest possible freedom of action for the state is nearly as important. Beyond that, diplomacy seeks maximum national advantage without using force and preferably without causing resentment.

Fourteen Points Summary

Fourteen Points, (January 8, 1918), declaration by U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson during World War I outlining his proposals for a postwar peace settlement. On January 8, 1918, President Wilson, in his address to a joint session of the United States Congress, formulated under 14 separate heads his ideas

Miguel Ángel Asturias Summary

Miguel Ángel Asturias was a Guatemalan poet, novelist, and diplomat, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1967 (see Nobel Lecture: “The Latin American Novel: Testimony of an Epoch”) and the Soviet Union’s Lenin Peace Prize in 1966. His writings, which combine the mysticism of the Maya with

Charles Francis Adams Summary

Charles Francis Adams was a U.S. diplomat who played an important role in keeping Britain neutral during the U.S. Civil War (1861–65) and in promoting the arbitration of the important “Alabama” claims. The son of Pres. John Quincy Adams and the grandson of Pres. John Adams, Charles was early

Juho Kusti Paasikivi Summary

Juho Kusti Paasikivi was a Finnish statesman and diplomat who, as prime minister (1918, 1944–46) and then president (1946–56) of Finland, cultivated harmonious relations with the Soviet Union in an effort to ensure some measure of independence for Finland. Paasikivi studied law and history at the