The State Department once boasted an honorable tradition of diplomats trained in Asian languages, cultures, and histories. Some of these people were scapegoats during the “Who lost China?” arguments after the 1949 revolution, and the Pentagon gradually eclipsed State in the policy-planning space during the Cold War. By the Reagan years the process was more or less complete. It’s time to revive the tradition. We need big-picture diplomats capable of integrating politics, economics and national security questions—men and women trained to understand China’s perspective even if they entertain no sympathy for it.
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