Publisher's Synopsis
"Expeditionary diplomacy" is a media-friendly term for the State Department's effort, begun in the second term of the Bush Administration and modified but continued in the Obama Administration, to improve U.S. capacity to respond appropriately and effectively to international conflicts that involve American interests. Its institutional expression in the State Department is the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, created in 2011 under the leadership of Secretary Hilary Clinton. One of the Bureau's first projects was to assist the Government of Senegal, which is among the closest U.S. friends and partners in Africa and the Islamic community, in an initiative to end a 30-year secessionist conflict in the southern part of the country, known as the Casamance. A retired career diplomat, Ambassador Jim Bullington, was recalled to active duty to implement this engagement. "Expeditionary Diplomacy in Action" is a first-hand, insider account of the successful U.S. diplomatic effort to help end this deadly and debilitating conflict. It is not about international relations theory or history, but contemporary nuts-and-bolts diplomatic practice and the day-to-day life of a senior American diplomatic couple in West Africa. It suggests expeditionary diplomacy as a conflict response model that falls between the extremes of trying to act everywhere as a global policeman, and of ignoring small conflicts and letting them fester until they directly threaten important American interests and require much more costly and difficult interventions. The book is about the experience of Jim Bullington and his wife, Tuy-Cam, as they moved to Dakar and were attached to the U.S. Embassy for an exciting and ultimately successful year of intensive diplomacy. In a series of letters and reports, they recount their professional and personal adventures: building relationships with Senegalese officials and community leaders as well as other diplomats and international experts; participating in meetings with rebel leaders and peace mediators in Rome and Guinea-Bissau; visiting the Casamance to hear from refugees, mine victims, and others most directly affected by the conflict; traveling to The Gambia to urge its mercurial President to cease fueling the insurgency and support the peace initiative; promoting U.S. and international community economic and humanitarian aid for the Casamance; and adjusting to the challenges and opportunities living in West Africa presents for a not-quite-yet-elderly couple returning to active professional diplomacy after a few years of retirement. While a definitive peace agreement has yet to be concluded, a de facto ceasefire has been observed in the Casamance for three years and continues; political negotiations between government and rebels are ongoing; and a surge in economic development investment and humanitarian aid has gotten underway. Both the Senegalese government and the rebels have expressed appreciation for U.S. support of the peace initiative, and the State Department, in its official magazine and on its web site, has pointed to the Casamance engagement as a successful example of expeditionary diplomacy in action. Even a French professor, who is considered the world's leading academic expert on the Casamance conflict, publicly lauded the success of American diplomacy in moving it toward a peaceful resolution. "Expeditionary Diplomacy in Action" should be of particular interest to American diplomats and development professionals, academic and other specialists in conflict resolution, and people with personal or professional interest in Senegal or in a Foreign Service career.
