DiplomacyBites – because diplomacy often bites.

And sometimes, it bites back.

I’ve spent decades in foreign service. Sat through the briefings. Attended the summits. Listened to the speeches. Written more than a few. Watched governments pretend, collapse, reinvent themselves, and repeat the cycle — always with a slogan in hand and a blind spot in mind.

I was never the type to blog. Didn’t post much. Kept opinions to myself. You learn to do that in diplomacy. It’s safer. And to be honest — most of the time, it didn’t seem worth the noise. The world wasn’t short on opinions.

But something shifted. Not a revelation. More like a final nudge.

A child came late in my life — a joyful interruption to a career that had long run on structure, silence, and protocol. And suddenly, staying silent started to feel like a luxury I couldn’t afford.

My wife gave me a journal: “Write something she’ll understand.” Two hundred and fifty questions. Memory prompts. Things I might pass on.

I opened it. Stared at the pages. And asked myself: What matters now? What’s actually worth telling? What might help her navigate a world I once thought I understood — but no longer pretend to?

That was the seed of DiplomacyBites.

This isn’t a memoir. It’s not a policy blog. It’s certainly not trying to go viral. It’s a collection of fragments. Reflections. Quiet frustrations. Small, sharp observations about diplomacy, power, and the strange theatre of international affairs.

Sometimes the pieces are bitter. Sometimes amused. Occasionally hopeful. But they’re all real.

I’ve been in enough rooms to know when the talking points end — and when the silence becomes strategy.

So I write. Not to confess. Not to convince. But to leave a trace.
For her. And maybe for anyone else trying to see through the fog.

Welcome to DiplomacyBites.

No spin. No fluff. Just what’s left when the slogans fade.