Becoming a Good Neighbor Among Dictators

Abstract

A short concluding chapter discusses the events of previous chapters in the context of wider patterns and structures of U.S. diplomacy. In doing so, it will move beyond reductionist images of the U.S. ambassador as a rational statesman or an agent of empire, while avoiding equally empty claims to historicism and uniqueness. Instead, the conclusion will demonstrate how elements that are specific to time and place—individuals’ predilections, shifting alliances, and the historic experience of World War II—collided with more long-term and structural features—the political culture within the Foreign Service, an embassy’s position between Washington policymakers and local circumstances, and asymmetries of power—to shape U.S. diplomacy.