Washington Talk: Diplomacy; What Makes Washington Tick?
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 — When Allan E. Gotlieb arrived here seven years ago as Ambassador from Canada, he labored under some misconceptions. Among them, he recalled, was the impression that there was a single point of power in Washington: the Presidency. He soon learned that a diplomat must also pay a great deal of attention to Congress. Mr. Gotlieb, who has just concluded his tenure in Washington, became a practitioner of what he calls ”the new diplomacy,” which in contrast to traditional diplomacy is conducted in the open; on Capitol Hill, for instance. He describes this brand of diplomacy as unique to Washington. ”The most important part of diplomacy here is not necessarily conducted behind closed doors,” he said. ”I’ve devoted a tremendous amount of my time to the Hill and you work in public there. I’ve called on senators, on such contentious issues as hogs and cable broadcasting and corn, to find the senators have their own cameras there.” Power in Washington is shared, Mr. Got
