Persistence, Power, and the Iran Deal (with Wendy Sherman)

After a lifetime spent at the center of international diplomacy, Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger joins Florence Gaub and Joshua Yaffa for the season finale of The Art of Diplomacy. From the Dayton Peace Accords to German reunification, from the United Nations during the Yom Kippur War to his years as Germany’s ambassador in Washington and as chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Ischinger reflects on more than five decades of diplomacy at the highest level. He shares lessons from negotiating peace in Bosnia, explains why trust remains diplomacy’s most valuable currency, argues for the return of quiet backchannel diplomacy, and reflects on what Europe must learn as the transatlantic relationship enters a new era. Looking back on a career that spanned the Cold War, the post-Cold War optimism of the 1990s, and today’s increasingly fragmented international order, Ischinger offers a candid assessment of what has been lost—and where diplomacy must go next. In a fitting conclusion to the first season, the conversation explores what it really means to practice the art of diplomacy in an age of uncertainty.

In this episode of The Art of Diplomacy, Josh Yaffa speaks with Wolfgang Schmidt, former Head of the German Chancellery and one of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s closest advisers during the first years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Schmidt offers a rare behind-the-scenes account of how Germany navigated the most consequential foreign policy crisis in Europe since the end of the Cold War. He reflects on the origins of the Zeitenwende speech, the difficult decisions around military support for Ukraine, and the challenge of balancing solidarity with the risks of escalation. The conversation explores one of the central strategic debates of the war: whether Western support successfully “boiled the frog” by increasing pressure on Russia step by step, or whether it amounted to “killing Ukraine softly” by providing enough aid to survive, but not enough to win decisively. Schmidt also discusses Germany’s efforts to keep Europe united, the diplomacy that led China to publicly oppose nuclear threats by Russia, and the prisoner exchange that secured the release of Evan Gershkovich and other political prisoners held in Russia. Drawing on his experience at the center of German government, Schmidt reflects on the realities of decision-making under uncertainty and on what diplomacy can achieve when every option carries risks. For the introduction to this episode, Florence Gaub is joined by Joshua Yaffa, who conducted the conversation with Wolfgang Schmidt on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

In this episode of The Art of Diplomacy, Florence Gaub speaks with former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

In this episode, Joshua Yaffa speaks with Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, one of the central architects of the modern international human rights system. From helping to establish the International Criminal Court to serving as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid has spent decades confronting the tension between moral ideals and political power. At a moment when international law, human rights, and multilateral institutions appear increasingly fragile, he reflects on what these systems were actually built to do—and why they were never guaranteed to survive. The conversation explores fear, nationalism, authoritarianism, and the recurring cycles of history, but also the role diplomacy can still play in preventing societies from sliding into violence. Prince Zeid speaks candidly about the realities of dealing with governments accused of abuses, the limits of international institutions, and the psychological burden of speaking on behalf of people suffering under war, repression, and injustice. He argues that human rights are not abstract ideals, but practical restraints designed to protect humanity from its own worst instincts. The conversation also turns to the United States, the erosion of postwar norms, the rise of exclusionary politics, and the question of whether the current global order is entering a dangerous new phase. Throughout, Prince Zeid remains both unsentimental and deeply committed to the idea that diplomacy, when practiced skillfully, can still produce extraordinary outcomes.

In this third episode of The Art of Diplomacy, co-host Florence Gaub travels to Paris to talk to Benjamin Haddad, French Minister Delegate for European Affairs. Haddad is one of the key figures shaping France’s role in Europe at a moment of geopolitical upheaval. He describes a role that sits at the intersection of European politics, security, and economic strategy, where building coalitions and moving quickly are often more important than perfect processes. Drawing on his path from think tank analyst to government diplomat, he reflects on the shift from observing decisions to taking responsibility for them. At the heart of their conversation stands the craft and art of negotiations. Beyond negotiation tactics, the episode looks at the changing nature of diplomacy itself. In a more interconnected and fast-moving world, influence no longer flows only through formal channels. Diplomacy has become more networked, more public, and more dependent on trust—both between states and between individuals.