“A scrapbook approach”: a review of Leigh Turner’s Lessons in Diplomacy

Cover of Lessons in Diplomacy.

Diplomats occupy an unusual role, parachuted into a country for a finite amount of time in which they are deeply involved in the affairs of that place, all before being lifted out again to pastures new and different. One such period was the years between 2008 and 2012, during which Leigh Turner was Britain’s Ambassador to Ukraine. These were the last years of President Yushchenko’s tenure, in which his popularity plummeted as the optimism of the Orange Revolution dimmed. Russia would cut off gas supplies in 2009, leading to an associated panic across Europe. In 2010 there was the election of President Yanukovych, leading to his subsequent seizure of the state’s levers of power and jailing of the former prime minister and faux populist Yulia Tymoshenko. Despite the political tensions, the use of both the Russian and Ukrainian languages was widespread and it was not uncommon in a conversation for one to be answered by the other. It was a world I knew well, as these were also the years I resided in the Ukrainian capital. Whilst working for the British Council in Kyiv I taught courses to local embassy staff. My visits to the embassy were routine but my mind occasionally wandered whilst within those walls: what does go on in here? At that time, Turner hosted receptions open to all the various Brits that had somehow found themselves in Ukraine, and their partners. What made an impression on me at the time was Turner’s attentiveness to all the guests, regardless of status. From this book, I learn that at the same time Turner was taking regular lunches with Mykola Azarov, Yanukovych’s prime minister (known by Ukrainians as “Azariv” for his tenuous attempts at “Ukrainianisms”) and was also a dinner guest of members of the Ukrainian security apparatus (he nails the description of the local culinary tradition of “zakuski” – cold starters followed by a “disappointing hot dish”).

Such additional layers to European and world history over the past four decades are a big part of the value of Lessons in Diplomacy. Through his postings in Russia and Ukraine, but also in others such as Turkey, Austria and Germany, it is possible to follow the thread of history that is familiar to many of us. However, the author also offers personal as well as diplomatic snapshots of events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the parlous state of Russia in the early 1990s, and the events in Ukraine that were to ultimately lead to the Maidan protests. Turner adopts a punchy style, which jumps around between different postings, thoughts and anecdotes, a scrapbook approach that he seems happy to own and is reflected in the style of the book. The themes tackled boil down to three areas: what being an ambassador is like, beyond being merely a mouthpiece; the importance of opinions and judgement; and the need for an ambassador to find their niche in order to do their best work. Some of the content is quite practical. For example, he offers reflections on where diplomatic careers are going, as well as how attitudes towards women and families in the service have changed. It is also interesting to read about the daunting challenges and false starts of getting into diplomacy in the first place, alongside the issues surrounding rejoining the profession after taking some years out for family reasons. Other intriguing areas touched on include the topic of spycraft, how an embassy reacts to a crisis or acts of terrorism, and how you advocate for a position you ultimately disagree with (i.e. Brexit).

However, it is the content he offers on Central and Eastern Europe that may be of particular interest here, and it is noticeable just how wide a diplomat’s bandwidth can be, from economy to politics to religion. His description of his epiphany upon first seeing the Berlin Wall and how that contrasted with the abstract, removed views of communism back in the West is relatable for other “westerners” who have visited the region. He evocatively describes the chaos of Russia through his postings there in the 1990s, describing such events as the 1993 coup attempt against Yeltsin, the dangers of doing business, and how diplomats are targeted by those attempting to manufacture kompromat.

In his chapter on the Russia-Ukraine war, Turner adopts a more serious tone, as if at pains to ensure we know what he really thinks, seizing the opportunity to offer several insights. As he correctly observes, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine truly began in 2014. Prior to Maidan, President Putin had received regular briefings from the EU on Ukraine’s European aspirations with little pushback. However, as we know, he stepped in when Ukraine and the EU were poised to sign an Association Agreement, then claiming that they had not consulted the Kremlin. Turner talks about the Soviet KGB roots of denial culture employed by Russian officials. His work also touched on some of the western responses to Russian aggression. For instance, this is particularly clear in the area of sanctions. He recounts a conversation during his term in Austria, in which a politician from the (pro-Russian) Freedom Party attempted to pour scorn over the sanctions and their ineffectiveness, as well as the harm they were doing to Austrian pork exports. After all, Russia was even making its own mozzarella now. One of his staff pointed out that pork exports to other markets were comfortably offsetting this issue. A senior Austrian official then added that the Russian mozzarella was not particularly nice or popular, at which point an official more senior to them clarified that it was not so much the popularity that was the issue but that “Russians have died after eating it.”

Diplomacy is a unique way of interacting with windows on wider history. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the remarkable diplomatic telegram (British parlance for cable) of 1999, which directly referenced the previous telegram of the Berlin embassy of September 1939 – “the required assurances… were, sadly, not received: the subsequent course of events has been well documented.”

Lessons in Diplomacy by Leigh Turner. Policy Press 2024.

Jonathan Hibberd is a doctoral researcher in international relations at the University of Nottingham. He is an alumnus of the Sussex European Institute in the UK. He has worked with the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Ukraine and lectured in European studies at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

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Central and Eastern Europe, diplomacy, international relations