ABSTRACT
The practice of international statecraft always has been a precarious occupation: relations among nations can be thrown off course by a myriad of factors. Moreover, the forces contributing to instability have increased substantially since World War II. No secretary of state since has had the luxury of remaining in Washington and mapping grand strategy with his president. While a few may have entered office with some such romantic notion, all have been forced to spend much of their time traveling to sensitive parts of the globe to maintain existing alliances or to establish new ones. And much the same is true of foreign ministers of other world powers.
