The Bush foreign policy and the need for statecraft -- Cases of statecraft : German unification in NATO -- Cases of statecraft : Bosnia -- Cases of statecraft : undoing Iraqi aggression in Kuwait -- Cases of statecraft : Saddam, George W. Bush, and the Iraq War -- Lessons of statecraft for today -- Statecraft in a new world -- Negotiations as an instrument of statecraft --Negotiations : twelve rules to follow -- Mediation in a world of local conflict -- Eleven rules for mediation -- Practicing statecraft : the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- Practicing statecraft : radical Islam and the challenge of Iran -- Practicing statecraft : China's rise -- Conclusion, Statecraft restored : a neoliberal agenda for U.S. foreign policy.

In this wise and thought-provoking book, the renowned peace negotiator Dennis Ross shows that America's current foreign policy problems stem from the Bush administration's inability to use the tools of statecraft to advance our national interests. Ross explains that in the globalized world―with its fluid borders, terrorist networks, and violent unrest―statecraft is more necessary than ever. In vivid chapters, he outlines how statecraft helped shape a new world order after 1989. He shows how the failure of statecraft in Iraq and throughout the Middle East has undercut the United States and makes clear that only statecraft can check the rise of China and the danger of a nuclear Iran. He draws on his expertise to reveal the art of successful negotiation. And he shows how the next president could resolve today's problems and define a realistic, ambitious foreign policy. Statecraft is "an essential book for our time" (Walter Isaacson).