The Curious Diplomat (A Memoir from the Frontlines of Diplomacy)

‘Lachlan, what do you actually do as a diplomat?’ In The Curious Diplomat, Lachlan Strahan answers that frequently asked question, taking us inside the world of Australian diplomacy. From the icy heart of North Korea to the halls of the United Nations, this is a riveting insider’s account of negotiation, politics and the evolution of Australia’s place in the world over the last thirty years.

Strahan spent his career in some of Australia’s most important postings, including India, Germany, Korea and Solomon Islands. He was involved in grappling with some of Australia’s biggest diplomatic challenges – from managing China’s rise, growing a relationship with India at a tense time and handling the repercussions of Beijing’s security agreement with Solomon Islands, to tackling climate change, countering weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, defending human rights and coordinating the search for MH370.

Working with prime ministers across the decades, from John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard to Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Anthony Albanese, and all of Australia’s foreign ministers from Gareth Evans to Penny Wong, Strahan unwraps how Canberra sees the world, and how allies, partners and adversaries see us. Along the way, he offers a unique perspective on the Australian way of diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, and on what Australia can do today to find a path for itself in a complicated and dangerous world.