Glossary of common State Department terms -- What is political analysis and why is it a craft? -- The objectives of diplomatic political analysis -- The audience -- The competition -- The analyst's personal toolkit -- The analytic tools -- Criteria for superior reporting: the State Department view -- Case study: the collapse of the Soviet Union (1): early embassy Moscow views -- Case study: the collapse of the Soviet Union (2): coup against Gorbachev -- The compass and the weather vane -- Technological change, the risk of irrelevance, and the continuing need
Summary
Author Raymond F. Smith combines a practitioner's personal view of what is required to do good diplomatic political analysis with his understanding of the social conflict and change that informed his work for the State Department. -- From publisher's description
