This book, the first comprehensive comparative study ever undertaken, surveys and compares the world's ten largest diplomatic services: those of Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Chapters cover the distinctive histories and cultures of the services, their changing role in foreign policy making, and their preparations for the new challenges of the twenty-first century. 

Robert Hutchings is Professor and former Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. His combined academic and diplomatic career has included service as Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, Director for Europe with the National Security Council, and Special Adviser to the Secretary of State, with the rank of ambassador. He is the author and editor of six books.

Jeremi Suri holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, USA, where he is Professor in the Department of History and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Professor Suri is the author and editor of nine books on history, international relations, and political leadership, and hosts a weekly podcast, "This is Democracy."