The Art of Diplomacy

In this episode of The Art of Diplomacy, Joshua Yaffa speaks with Wendy Sherman, former US Deputy Secretary of State and the lead American negotiator of the Iran nuclear agreement. Drawing on decades of experience, from negotiations with North Korea to the marathon talks that produced the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Sherman offers a candid look at what diplomacy requires when trust...

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. H...

In this episode of The Art of Diplomacy, Florence Gaub speaks with former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Leading a country through a pandemic, an energy crisis, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Finland’s historic accession to NATO, Marin faced a series of decisions that challenged long-held assumptions about security, leadership, and political strategy. In this conversation, she r...

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 int...

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 m...

In this second episode of The Art of Diplomacy, Florence Gaub is joined by journalist and New Yorker writer Joshua Yaffa to explore diplomacy as it unfolds in real time—at the Munich Security Conference. Together, they reflect on the unique nature of the conference itself: a space where global politics is not only discussed on stage, but shaped and processed in hallways, over coffee, and in countl...

In this first episode of The Art of Diplomacy, Florence Gaub speaks with Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. At the center of some of the most sensitive diplomatic efforts today, Grossi operates in a world where pressure is constant and stakes are existential. In this conversation, he reflects on what it takes to stay focused and effective under these conditi...

The Art of Diplomacy takes you inside the world of international politics: through personal conversations with those who practice diplomacy at the highest level. What does it really take to negotiate, manage crises, and find common ground under pressure?