The Stakes of Diplomacy

…The Stakes of Diplomacy has perhaps more in it than any other to stimulate the reader to a serious study of world politics…. –F.P. Keppel in Political Science Quarterly, 1916

The Stakes of Diplomacy, published in 1915, has been criticized by some as not being Walter Lippmann’s most brilliant, influential, or scholarly. Still, this book is a fascinating reflection of Lippmann’s thinking while World War I was raging. Also, this book offers a glimpse into Lippmann’s quest for a solution to international conflicts by creating a legal framework to govern volatile areas around the world. The subsequent post-World-War-I-reality showed that Lippmann’s ideas were not always accepted, let alone implemented. Now over one hundred years since he wrote this book, some of the issues he addresses are still, or again, at the forefront of intense debate, such as the role of democracies in international relations, sovereignty versus international organizations, and patriotism versus globalism.

The Stakes of Diplomacy is a must-read for historians, foreign service professionals, and all who are interested in diplomacy and world politics.