David Paull Nickles State Department Historian Urges Diplomats to Embrace TechnologyóCarefully by John Shaw David Paull Nickles, a historian at the State Department, is not the sort of person to offer unsolicited advice. But if pressed, Nickles would probably urge diplomats in Washington to slow down, delve into a good history book, and study the lessons learned by their predecessors, especially regarding the use of technology. Although Nickles is too modest to say so, diplomats would do well to begin their reflections by reading his book, ìUnder the Wire: How the Telegraph Changed Diplomacy.î The book explores the rise and fall of the telegraph and the efforts of diplomats in the 19th and early 20th centuries to grapple with this revolutionary technology. But the book is also relevant to todayís diplomats. In an interview at the State Department, Nickles said the diplomats he came across during his review of archives from France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States tried to cope with the communications revolution ignited by the telegraph. Their efforts, he said, offer insights on how contemporary diplomats can adjust to successor technologies such as e-mail and video-conferencing. ìI think itís important to always remember that technologies arenít good or bad. The question is how they are used,î Nickles said. ìItís crucial for diplomats to make sure technologies serve their purposes rather that just falling into the trap of doing something because itís possible. Just because itís possible to make very rapid decisions doesnít make them good.î Nickles said that as he studied diplomatic history, he became convinced that one of the distinguishing features of successful diplomats is their intuitive sense of timing. ìDiplomacy is an art rather than a science. There is no template you can apply. Sometimes you have to make rapid judgments and have to be on the job at the right time. Other times it makes sense to slow down and wait on events. It takes incredible judgment,î he said. ìOne of the strengths of some of diplomats Iíve studiedó[Otto von] Bismarck, for exampleóis that they went at their own pace. Sometimes they got overwhelmed by events. But at other times, by going at their own pace, they didnít allow themselves to be rushed. As a result these diplomats maintained a mastery of events that might have been lost if they responded to events at once. Bismarck had an incredible sense of timing.î In practical terms, Nickles said diplomats should try to avoid making decisions or offering advice before they are ready to do so. Obviously, most envoys donít have full control over the timing of their assignments, but they should try to not be rushed into actions and recommendations until they have sufficient information and adequate perspective. Nickles, 37, is from Ann Arbor, Mich. He has an undergraduate degree in history from Amherst College, a masterís degree in international relations from St. Antonyís College, Oxford, and a doctorate in diplomatic history from Harvard. ìUnder the Wireî is based on his doctoral dissertation. The book examines how the telegraph, a new and revolutionary form of communications in the mid-19th century, affected diplomacy and diplomats. Nickles argues that electric telegraphyóbased on the concept of converting messages into charged impulses that could be sent over wires at lightning speed to distant receiving stationsówas the first great leap forward in the modern communications revolution. European foreign ministries first used the telegraph during the early 1850s. It did not become an important tool in U.S. diplomacy until the completion of the first trans-Atlantic cable in 1866. Telegraphy, Nickles argues, produced significant challenges and opportunities for the conduct of diplomacy. The historian noted that before the telegraph was used, diplomacy unfolded at the speed of a sailing ship or a galloping horse. The first part of the book begins with an examination of the origins of War of 1812, a subject that illuminates the role of diplomats before the era of electric telegraphy. The second part of ìUnder the Wireî discusses the Trent affair, which involved the capture of Confederate soldiers on a British ship by Union troops. The incident occurred in 1861 when diplomats were just becoming aware of the power and problems posed by the telegraph. The final section of the book presents the story of the infamous Zimmermann telegram, in which Germany sought an alliance with Mexico against the United States in 1917. The discovery of the telegram helped persuade the United States to enter World War I. It also heralded a new era of diplomatic espionage, in which governments tried to crack the elaborate codes of rival governments. These case studies develop the main themes of the book, which include the changing degree of autonomy of diplomats, the effects of speed on diplomacy and the lives of diplomats, and the effect of the telegraph on foreign policy establishments. Nickles contends that when considering the rise of telegraphic diplomacy, itís useful to think of three distinct periods. The period before 1851 and the invention of the electric telegraph was characterized by the slow pace of communications, when governments invested their diplomats with considerable autonomy. During crises, the long pauses caused by relatively slow communication sometimes allowed tempers to cool and provided time for careful, methodical diplomacy. Delays sometimes allowed harried political leaders and diplomats to conceive of creative solutions to difficult problems without resorting to war. The period between 1851 and 1918 was a time when governments used the telegraph and grappled with the advantages and disadvantages that it offered in the conduct of foreign policy. After 1918, the telegraph was the normal medium of diplomatic communication, but it was no longer novel or exciting. It was a mature technology in slow decline after 1918. The phone, radio and plane increasingly replaced the telegraph in diplomatic communication. Nickles said that ambassadorships to powerful nations were often the most important posts in the diplomatic service. Slow communication and vast distances tended to increase the autonomy of ambassadors during the era before the telegraph, and the difficulty of responding to unforeseen contingencies required sovereign nations to invest considerable discretionary power in their envoys. He added that ambassadors sometimes played major, even decisive, roles during international crises. They were compelled to make important decisions before they could receive instructions from home. This power and independence was lessened by the telegraph, which in turn allowed foreign ministries to exert more control over distant envoys. ìThe increase in centralized control had a profound effect on diplomats. With the advent of telegraphic dispatches, ëthe age of the great ambassadors,í who were perforce policymakers in their own right, was over,î wrote Nickles, who quoted a disgruntled British official as saying, ìI might have been a great man, but for the telegraph.î Nickles argues that the institution of foreign-based diplomats endured in the age of the telegraphóand afterófor a number of compelling reasons. Diplomats contributed a valuable perspective to a nationís foreign policy because the view from abroad differed from the view at home. Diplomats provided a context that a telegram couldnít offer. They also played a key role in explaining dispatches from their governments. In addition, diplomats on the ground had better access to local information than did colleagues at home, which allowed them to act with greater efficiency in dealing with purely local affairs. Foreign-based envoys also served practical purposes. By taking responsibility for errors that they did not commit, diplomats furnished a relatively graceful mechanism for governments to change course or correct mistakes. Nickles said envoys interacting with leaders from the host country often gleaned special insights about personalities and political relationships. ìDiplomatic envoys had opportunities to interact socially with the leaders of countries in which they were stationed, often resulting in private, semi-inebriated conversations. Such access gave them a good vantage point for making character judgmentsówhich are often based on nonverbal behavioróabout political leaders,î he wrote. That historian argues that the use of the telegraph by diplomats contributed to important trends: the increased centralization and bureaucratization of foreign ministries, the rising importance of signals intelligence, the declining autonomy of diplomatic envoys and, most important, the a ccelerated speed of international crises. According to Nickles, the telegraph brought new capabilities and strains to foreign ministries. Faster communication helped day-to-day diplomacy, allowing rapid answers to questions and solutions to new problems. But diplomats, from clerks to ambassadors, often complained that the technology reduced their authority, lessened their control over their work environment, and degraded their work conditions. Nickles noted that his study raises questions about the social effects of technology that are worth considering: Is a new technology likely to change the way that human beings conduct their activities? Does a technology tend to expand or restrict peopleís freedom to pursue their goals? Does a technology tend to promote authoritarian or democratic power structures? And does a technology accelerate existing trends or push history in a new direction? ìTechnology will play a major part in shaping the future of the human species. Indeed, it may determine whether human beings have a future,î he said. Nickles has been intrigued by history since he was a young boy. He said his first interest ìafter dinosaursî was World War II. ìI went from being interested in history and war to being interested in understanding how these events happened, why they occurred. That led me to diplomacy,î he said. Nickles is fascinated by U.S. diplomatic history as well as the 19th-century European state system. He is a member of the State Departmentís history office, which has a staff of 45, including 30 professional historians. He works on the State Departmentís ìForeign Relations of the United Statesî series. His focus is Americaís relationship with Eastern Asia. He helped assemble a volume of documents on the U.S.-Japan relationship from 1969 to 1972 and is now working on a volume on Americaís relations with China from 1973 to 1976. Whether plumbing the past or pondering the future, Nickles is fascinated by the connection between diplomacy and technology. ìThe challenge for diplomats and all of us is to make technology work for us. These tools should serve us. We should not become servants of them. Just because we can do something quickly doesnít mean itís a good thing to do. Sometimes itís necessary to reset expectations.î John Shaw is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.