Effective diplomacy requires pragmatism, patience and a willingness to give up any hope of a personal life, Sir Kieran Prendergast said Thursday evening.
Prendergast, the former United Nations under secretary of political affairs, discussed the evolving use of diplomacy with about 70 mostly graduate students and faculty in the ASEAN Auditorium in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
"Foreign policy must be made with the head, though with full awareness of the heart," Prendergast said.
Practical diplomacy and alliance-building require diplomats to see things the way they are, not the way they want them to be, he said. Diplomats have to analyze the nature of problems and their expected consequences - and whether proposed solutions will solve the problem or merely manage it.
Prendergast focused the most attention on the importance of resilience, patience and persistence. "Short term expediency will usually come back to bite you," he said.
He emphasized the need for diplomats to follow their moral compass. Ideals are necessary to navigate the "confused, complex and contradicting" realities of diplomacy, he said.
Prendergast stressed the importance of honesty, integrity, courtesy, accuracy, modesty and discretion - values he said remained relevant.
Prendergast also discussed the limits of diplomacy. "War is the failure of diplomacy," he said. "But there are just causes and there are just wars."
The lead of the war in Iraq was "a failure of diplomacy all around," Prendergast said.
A more sustained commitment to diplomacy may have allowed for a United Nations Security Council consensus on a plan of action, he said. It would have been harder for the United States to abandon diplomatic methods if the Security Council had a better history of consistency and resolve.
The United Nations works best as a permanent forum for countries to air their grievances and for smaller countries to have an audience with more important ones. "One of the UN's most useful functions is as a standing conference," Prendergast said.
Much of the United Nations' actual business, though, takes place away from the camera. "In many ways corridors matter more than conferences," he said. Diplomats often negotiate in "smoky rooms" on the building's 30th floor, he said.
The United Nations can often accomplish more things than a group of countries because it is not suspected of having ulterior motives.
Prendergast praised Secretary General Kofi Annan for working patiently to expand the use of preventive diplomacy, mediation and peace building.
Prendergast has a long history in the Foreign Service. He previously served as the United Kingdom's ambassador to Turkey and as his country's high commissioner to Kenya and Zimbabwe. He announced his resignation from the United Nations in May. He officially left the Department of Political Affairs on June 30, but will remain on staff at the United Nations until the end of the year. This fall he is a Goodman Fellow at Harvard University and is writing a report based on his experiences at the Department of Political Affairs.
During the question and answer session, Prendergast gave candid responses to the audience.
One person in the audience asked if Prendergast would recommend a career in the Foreign Service. The enjoyable part of diplomacy is traveling and being immersed in other cultures, Prendergast said, and the deteriorating international environment is providing less and less opportunity for these experiences.
To a British student, Prendergast described the persistent stereotype of diplomats held by the people of Great Britain - an elderly, gin-and-tonic drinking man who only ever speaks to other diplomats.
Prendergast is married with two sons and two daughters. A Foreign Service career can be attractive for a bachelor or bachelorette, he said, but long periods away from home can put a strain on diplomats who are married or who have children.
