American Statecraft

“An ambitious, impressively researched history” of American diplomacy from 1776 to today's U.S. Foreign Service (Kirkus.

American Statecraft is a fascinating and comprehensive look at the unsung men and women of the U.S. Foreign Service who have played a crucial part in our history for over two centuries. Fifteen years in the making, veteran journalist and historian Moskin has traveled the globe conducting hundreds of interviews both in and out of the State Department to look behind the scenes at America’s “militiamen of diplomacy.”

Using dialogue and negotiation, American diplomats seek out new business markets, rescue citizens in trouble abroad, and act as “America’s first line of defense” in policy negotiations, keeping America out of war. Moskin traces the development of this multifaceted institution from its rough origins in the days of Ben Franklin to the notorious Benghazi attack of 2012.

An important contribution to the political canon, American Statecraft recounts the history of the United States through the lens of foreign diplomacy.