The Diplomacy of the Blind
Why do revolutions so often take professional diplomats by surprise? As we have seen again in the Middle East, while diplomats often provide penetrating analysis, it is as if, owing to an excess of prudence, they cannot bring themselves to pursue their own arguments to their logical conclusions.
https://prosyn.org/K4L5DdY
PARIS – Why do revolutions so often take professional diplomats by surprise? Is there something in their DNA that makes them prefer the status quo so much that, more often than not, they are taken aback by rapid changes, neither foreseeing them nor knowing how to respond once they begin?