Diplomacy from the outside in

JNU professor S D Muni's memoir is an interesting study in how an academic can walk the corridors of power too

Dabbling in Diplomacy: Authorised & Otherwise, Reflections of a Non-Career diplomat

Author: S D Muni

Publisher: Konark Publishers

Pages: 264

Price: Rs 800

This is a compelling and lucidly written memoir of a distinguished academic who established himself as a diplomat and special envoy, turf usually reserved for career diplomats. S D Muni was appointed by Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral as India’s ambassador to Laos in 1997. In 2005, he became India’s special envoy and was involved in the complex diplomatic parleys of the faction-ridden domestic politics of India’s two key neighbours, Nepal and Sri Lanka. He describes meeting presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers,