A global paradigm for the twenty-first century, anyone?
It may be a simpler task today to start a Journal of Universal Cliches and Catch-Phrases than a Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations. What is somewhat more difficult is to avoid conflating the two. Going beyond surfacy conceptualizations of international affairs is one goal of this journal. Another is to bring the best of scholarship to bear on issues confronting all students and practitioners of diplomacy, wherever they may be found.

That is a broader group than one might think. The School of Diplomacy and International Relations was founded to educate a new generation of leaders to be intellectually at home in both business and government, NGOs and MNCs, Wall Street and developing countries. It recognizes and embraces a broadening definition of diplomacy that no longer is limited to the career Foreign Service officer. Diplomacy is practiced every day by persons not trained as diplomats in the classic sense but who employ its time-honored skills of negotiation, compromise, and communication to advance their interests.

The constant and rapid redefinition of the ways in which the world's inhabitants relate to one another is fraught with both opportunity and peril, and questions, questions, questions. How does an international system reconcile calls for intervention with the hard boundaries of state sovereignty? Can economic development be equitable, or will there always be haves and have-nots? Is our responsibility to the standard of living today or the availability of resources tomorrow? Will national identity survive arbitrarily drawn borders, wide-open markets, the Internet . . . and should it?

The contents of this inaugural issue address some of these most pressing of international issues. Our opening section is a nod to the importance of Washington, both real and perceived, in determining the direction of things to come. What is to be made of the fact that the United States itself is unsure of its international role? Maureen S. Steinbruner and Michael Spirtis of the Center for National Policy look at public opinion and conceptions of American national identity to determine whether uncertainty at home translates to uncertainty abroad. As an illustration of the current debate, we include the impassioned appeal of one of our home state's senators, Robert G. Torricelli, on the subject of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. This section concludes with a thoughtful piece by former U.S. ambassador to NATO Robert E. Hunter on the renewed need for strategic thinking in U.S. foreign policy.

We next broaden our focus by examining issues on the international agenda. United Nations University director Jacques Fomerand presents an overview of the imbalance between the expectations and limitations of the UN. Robert Picciotto, director-general of operations evaluation with the World Bank, argues for a Comprehensive Development Framework that will position institutions to confront the challenges of poverty reduction and sustainable development, including a critical role for civil society.

All this activity at the level of international organizations by no means implies a reduced role for regional actors. In the next article, Greek foreign minister George A. Papandreou outlines a new leadership role for his country as a role model in a "Total Balkan Approach: a regional approach to democracy, security, and prosperity." He finds hope in the "earthquake diplomacy" of the past year as a functionalist means of building toward a greater level of regional cooperation.
The final regular article in this issue reflects the belief that a fresh perspective on past events can be an instructive guide to avoiding future mistakes. Jorge O. Laucirica, a Fulbright scholar and graduate student at the School of Diplomacy, reexamines the Falklands/Malvinas crisis in the context of preventive diplomacy. By pointing out the various failures of the international community in this case, egregious in hindsight, he outlines the necessary steps for making the process of preventive diplomacy succeed in future cases of potential international conflict.

Lastly, Addressing the Future is a regular section that exemplifies the best of what the School of Diplomacy and its Journal have to offer. Its title is meant in two senses: content and audience. In terms of the former, this section will feature significant players in the international system speaking to the prospective evolution of today's intractable issues. The latter sense is equally important: these leaders' unique insights are addressed to the Seton Hall community, and particularly to the students of the School of Diplomacy, the next generation of global leaders-the future, as it were.

Due to the effort required to launch a new publication, I hope the reader will indulge me in a few acknowledgments. I am indebted to Seton Hall University and to the faculty, administration, and staff of its School of Diplomacy and International Relations for their faith in this endeavor. I particularly wish to thank Dean Clay Constantinou and Dr. Robert Manley for their steadfast support. Of great value has been the experience gained from editors with whom I previously worked, particularly Roger Donway (formerly of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Philadelphia, and currently with The Objectivist Center, Poughkeepsie, NY), whose mastery of dangling participles and their ilk guides me to this day.

The world indeed waits for no one. It is tempting to yearn for what in retrospect may seem simpler days, when the pace of change was slower and the rules of interaction fixed. But obstacles have always existed in the path of those who sought to create a better world for themselves and others. It is seldom the easiest path to take. Clichéd or not, there are challenges to embrace, paradigms to redefine, and a new century to explore and shape. Let's get to it, with the motto of the Seton family as our constant guide.

Hazard zet Forward.

- Tonya Ugoretz