Abstract
Should the norms for an office holder in one nation differ from those in another? Clearly the former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr thinks not. His rhetorical style for Diary of a Foreign Minister aims to raise the perceptions of Australia’s foreign minister in the eyes of Carr’s fellow citizens to an equivalency with the United States secretary of state. In humanising his time in office and regularly name dropping peers from the ‘Foreign Ministers’ Club’—like his Indonesian, Chinese and American counterparts, including former giants of the ‘Club’ like Kissinger—Carr’s Diary contributes to the intellectual debate of Australia’s place in the global system. This chapter provides a meta-analysis of the public, media, intelligentsia and political responses to Carr’s contribution.
As for jest, there be certain things, which ought to be privileged from it; namely, religion, matters of state, great persons, any man’s present business of importance, and any case that deserveth pity. (Of Discourse, Bacon 1625)
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Masters, A.B., Uhr, J. (2017). Bob Carr: Foreign Minister or Secretary of State?. In: Leadership Performance and Rhetoric. Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58774-5_5
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