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Formerly a university teacher, I am now a freelance writer specialising in the theory and practice of diplomacy from the earliest times until the present. As well as hoping to encourage the study of diplomacy, this site provides periodic updating of my textbook (see immediately below). This page contains some news and views (‘Blog posts’). The contents of the rest of the site can be navigated via the horizonal menu at the top of this page.

Diplomacy: Theory and Practice

G. R. Berridge Diplomacy 6th edition

6th edition
(Palgrave-Macmillan: Basingstoke and New York, 2022)

After Kissinger’s book, the most cited general work on diplomacy on Google Scholar’s diplomacy page.

Amazon customer reviews of earlier editions can be seen here.

CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE UPDATING

From the back cover:

“This is a highly welcome update for the best general introduction to the theory and practice of diplomacy. It is clear enough to be recommended to undergraduate students, yet sufficiently thoughtful and incisive to be read with profit by practitioners and experts.”
—John W. Young, Emeritus Professor of International History, University of Nottingham, UK

Diplomacy: Theory and Practice is a tour de force in diplomacy scholarship. Geoff Berridge has not only written the definitive text in diplomatic studies; he has done so in a lucid, accessible, and engaging way that sets the gold standard for how books should be written. Weaving together historical cases with contemporary examples, Berridge has given us essential reading for any student of international politics.”
—Marcus Holmes, Associate Professor of Government, College of William & Mary, USA

Israel-Palestine: A fantasy formula for ‘the day after’?

26 January 2025. The silver lining in any prolonged episode of shocking, large-scale violence such as the one being seen in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon at the moment is that it challenges long-fixed political positions and thereby offers hope for an eventual diplomatic solution. And it should be obvious to all impartial observers of the Israel-Palestine conflict that a solution must in due course be urgently sought.

UK-China deal on new embassies

25 January 2025. I was not surprised to learn that, despite continuing stiff opposition from London’s Tower Hamlet’s borough council, the new Labour government in the UK recently made clear that – subject to minor changes – it would support the long delayed building of China’s massive new embassy near Tower Bridge, thereby no doubt allowing the stalled plan for the badly needed re-building of the UK’s own embassy in Beijing to proceed.

Israel’s ‘accidental’ attacks on UNIFIL

13 Oct. 2024 The IDF’s current attacks on UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon should come as no surprise. It is evidence of Israel’s long standing hostility to the UN itself.

UN Pact for the Future versus the Usual Suspects

2 October, 2024. Security Council reform was one of the subjects dealt with in the UN’s ‘Pact for the Future’ that was comfortably adopted by consensus in the General Assembly on 22 September 2024. The Pact had been promoted by the Organization’s leadership, nurtured by diplomacy ‘facilitated’ by Germany and Namibia, and had easily overcome last-minute Russian opposition. Even one of the usual suspects happy to stand to attention when Moscow snaps its fingers – or at least adopt a posture of friendly neutrality – misbehaved.

Elon Musk: Public Enemy No. 1

30 August 2024  Elon Musk, the Trump-supporting mega-rich ‘free speech absolutist’ (except when it’s his authoritarian friends who are asking), has been neatly taken down by the estimable Robert Reich. In this piece in The Guardian, he also lists 6 ways in which the ‘unaccountable political power’ produced by Musk’s enormous wealth can be [...]

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