The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War, and Peace, 1989-1992

James A. Baker, III, James Addison Baker, Thomas M. DeFrank

G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1995 - Political Science - 687 pages

By any reckoning, James Baker's years as Secretary of State contained some of the most pivotal events of the second half of the twentieth century, and few men played as critical a role in so many of them as Baker himself. In this candid, revealing account, Baker uses his unique perspective to take us inside those events and the personalities involved in them: the collapse of Communism, the Berlin Wall, and the Soviet Union itself; the reunification of Germany; the end of conflict in Central America; the repression in Tiananmen Square; the invasion of Panama; the birth of freedom in South Africa; the remarkable negotiations behind the coalition-building of the Gulf War; and the even more remarkable talks that led Israelis and Arabs to sit down at the same table for the first time after decades of bloody conflict.
In the process, Baker gives us unparalleled insights into the sometimes delicate, sometimes rough-and-tumble art - and politics - of diplomacy, and intimate portraits of the leaders whose styles he came to know so well, individuals such as Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Thatcher, Mitterrand, Kohl, Shamir, Mubarak, Assad, Kings Fahd and Hussein, Genscher, Li Peng, the staunchly humanistic Shevardnadze, and Baker's friend and mentor, President George Bush. In all, this is a stunning work, an invaluable addition to the leading chronicles of our time.

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The politics of diplomacy: revolution, war, and peace, 1989-1992

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Former Secretary of State Baker's memoirs offer an engaging and candid behind-the-scenes look at the conduct of U.S. foreign policy during one of the most tumultuous periods in recent history. The ...

Contents

• º: 10
• Lancing the Central American Boil: 61
• A Europe Whole and Free: 96

About the author

James A. Baker, III has served in senior government positions under three Presidents: as Under Secretary of Commerce for Gerald Ford, as White House Chief of Staff and Treasury Secretary for Ronald Reagan, and as Secretary of State, White House Chief of Staff, and Senior Counselor for George Bush. Baker has also managed campaigns for the Presidency by all three of these Presidents.

THOMAS M. DEFRANK is the Washington bureau chief of the New York "Daily News," and was "Newsweek"'s senior White House correspondent for a quarter-century and deputy chief of the magazine's Washington bureau for twelve years. He is also the coauthor of three books, including James A. Baker III's "The Politics of Diplomacy" and Ed Rollins's Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms. In 2006, he won the Gerald R. Ford Prize for distinguished reporting on the presidency.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War, and Peace, 1989-1992
• Authors: James A. Baker, III, James Addison Baker, Thomas M. DeFrank
• Contributors: Thomas M. DeFrank, with Thomas M. DeFrank
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1995
• ISBN: 0399140875, 9780399140877
• Length: 687 pages
• Subjects: Political Science / General