And Then What? Inside Stories of 21st-Century Diplomacy

Baroness Catherine Ashton, former European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy

Wednesday, October 25, 2023
12:30 PM

ABOUT THE BOOK

So much of modern-day diplomacy still takes place behind closed doors, away from cameras and prying eyes. But what does this vital role really look like in today’s world?

From 2009 to 2014, Catherine Ashton was the EU’s first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security. Arriving in Brussels with no significant experience of international diplomacy, she faced the challenge of representing the views and values of 28 nations during one of the most turbulent periods in living memory.

From Russia’s invasion of Crimea to the Iran nuclear negotiations, she led the EU’s response, charting a path towards collaboration and stability. There were challenges, failures and occasional triumphs. She encountered dictators and war criminals, and witnessed the aftermath of natural disasters, military action and political instability.

Now for the first time she takes us behind the scenes to show us what worked and what didn’t, and how it felt to play a part in tackling some of the major international crises of our times.

ORDER THE BOOK

Order And Then What? Inside Stories of 21st-Century Diplomacy from Elliott & Thompson.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Baroness Catherine Ashton served as the European Union’s first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy from 2009 to 2014, and the first female EU Commissioner for Trade. She is a life peer and former Leader of the House of Lords, and served as a UK government minister in the Education and Justice departments. She is a Distinguished Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC and a consultant to the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Leslie Johns is a professor of political science and law at UCLA. She is also Associate Director of the Burkle Center for International Relations.

Her research focuses on international law, organizations, and political economy.

In 2022, Cambridge University Press published her newest book, Politics and International Law: Making, Breaking, and Upholding Global Rules. You can access related news stories on the book's Twitter account: @PoliticsIntlLaw

Her work appears in the American Political Science Review, International Organization, Journal of Conflict Resolution and the Journal of Politics. Her first book–Strengthening International Courts: The Hidden Costs of Legalization–was published in 2015 by the University of Michigan Press. She received the Michael Wallerstein Award for political economy in 2017.

She is a former term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a former research fellow at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at Princeton University (2012-2013 and 2021-2022).

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Sponsor(s): Burkle Center for International Relations, Center for Chinese Studies, Center for European and Russian Studies, Political Science