evolution of principles such as the sovereign equality of states, the presump-
tion of nonintervention, the recognition of human rights, and the principle
of self-determination, and explains that these principles have not been created
in a
vacuum.13
As Jones illustrates, these principles have arisen from the hard-
won lessons of war and peace throughout world history, and especially in the
twentieth century. They have shaped the beliefs and actions of statesmen,
and in turn, they have been shaped and reshaped by them.
This volume gives due consideration to the aforementioned three levels of
analysis, as well as the five points outlined above. At the very least, it provides
a modicum of discipline and organization that enables us to extract some gen-
eralized wisdom from case studies such as the ones that are explored. Current
tools of diplomacy and statecraft such as finance (sanctions), technology
(drones), and law are best understood as presented here, fully embedded in
historical context with actors making decisions in real time. In this way, this
volume opens an important pathway to the study of ethics and international
affairs and is a genuine contribution to our understanding of the connection
between moral principles and national leadership.
Three takeaways for every reader are guaranteed. First, readers will gain a
greater appreciation of the intrinsic connection between values and interests.
By viewing statesmanship through the lens of biography and ethics, one can
see that interests are a matter of judgment, subject to human reason and expe-
rience. Second, readers will see why discussions of ethics that focus solely on
the individual or the institution are insufficient. It is the interaction between
the two—the individual acting within a system and set of circumstances—
that is worth considering. Third and finally, the stories themselves remind
the reader of the human element of statecraft. Models of international rela-
tions theory cannot substitute for the passions, aspirations, and anguishes of
those in the breach. The high stakes and real-life drama should never be for-
gotten or diminished.
NOTES
1. Klaus Schwab, “From Our Founder,” World Economic Forum, http://www
.weforum.org.
2. Gordon Brown, “Wiring a Web for Global Good,” TED Talk, http://www
.ted.com.
3. Michael Ignatieff, The Needs of Strangers (London: Vintage, 1994).
4. Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica/Great Books
Edition, 1952), pp. 675–76.
5. John Lewis Gaddis, “The Cold War’s End Dramatizes the Failure of Political
Theory,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 38 (July 26, 1992), p. A44
6. William Kilpatrick, “The Moral Power of Good Stories,” American Educator,
Vol. 17 (Summer 1993), pp. 24–30.
Foreword: Biography, Ethics, and Statecraft xv
