{{Short description|Art of conducting public affairs}}
{{Redirect|Statesman}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date = September 2025}}
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| width = 24em|[[File:Statesmen_of_World_War_I_by_Sir_James_Guthrie_-_Detail.jpg|frameless|center]]<br>'''Statecraft''' (st''ē''<sup>i</sup>tkrɑft). [f. ''state'' ''sb''. + ''craft''.]<br>The art of conducting state affairs; statesmanship. Sometimes with sinister implication: Crafty or overreaching statesmanship.
| source = [[Oxford English Dictionary]], first edition<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1919 |title=Statecraft |encyclopedia=[[A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society]] |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |location=Oxford |url=https://archive.org/details/oed9aarch/oed9aarch/page/n863 |editor-last=Murray |editor-first=James A. H. |editor-link=James A. H. Murray |edition=1st |volume=9/1 |page=855 |editor2-first=Henry |editor2-last=Bradley |editor2-link=Henry Bradley |editor3-first=W. A. |editor3-last=Craigie |editor3-link=W. A. Craigie |editor4-first=C. T. |editor4-last=Onions |editor4-link=C. T. Onions}}</ref>
}}
'''Statecraft''' (also '''statesmanship''') is the art of conducting [[Outline of public affairs|public affairs]]. A '''statesman''', '''stateswoman''', or '''statesperson''' is someone who practices statecraft. As a [[contested concept]], statecraft is difficult to define.
'''Statecraft''' may refer to:
== Definition and conceptions ==
The word ''statecraft'', dating from the 1640s,<ref>{{OEtymD|statecraft|access-date=18 September 2025}}</ref> refers to the art of conducting [[Outline of public affairs|public affairs]],<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|statecraft|access-date=18 September 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Collins Dictionary|statecraft|access-date=18 September 2025}}</ref> which entails leading a [[State (polity)|state]] or [[country]].<ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|statecraft|access-date=18 September 2025}}</ref> Statecraft is thus said to be the practice of a statesman<ref>{{Harvnb|Kratochwil|2009}}: "Second, we also use [''practice''] for activities that imply some form of knowledge and 'craft'. Exercising this knowledge or craft entails discretion and perhaps some form of skill. These are sometimes bound by certain special responsibilities, but their exercise does not seem to be specifiable by rules or a decision algorithm. In this sense, we speak of practising law or medicine, or we maintain that the statesman's activities are part of statecraft."</ref> (derived from the Dutch {{lang|nl|staatsman}}), stateswoman, or statesperson.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arment |first=J. Frederick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQOcGANDK3MC |title=The Elements of Peace: How Nonviolence Works |date=2012-03-09 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-6854-6 |page=23 |language=en}}</ref> ''Statecraft'' is a [[synonym]] of ''statesmanship'',{{Sfn|Green|1996|p=80}}<ref>{{Cite dictionary |title=statecraft |date=2010 |dictionary=[[Oxford Dictionary of English]] |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199571123.001.0001 |access-date=2025-09-18 |via=[[Oxford Reference]] |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199571123.001.0001 |editor-last=Stevenson |editor-first=Angus |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-957112-3 }}</ref> but in a narrow form may also be synonymous with [[public diplomacy]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=statecraft |encyclopedia=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics and International Relations |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |url=http://oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199670840.001.0001/acref-9780199670840-e-1770 |last=Mumford |first=Andrew |date=2018 |author-link=Andrew Mumford (political scientist) |editor-last=Brown |editor-first=Garrett |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199670840.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-967084-0 |via=[[Oxford Reference]] |editor-last2=McLean |editor-first2=Iain |editor-last3=McMillan |editor-first3=Alistair|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Beyond a superficial level, however, finding an exact definition of statecraft is difficult{{Sfn|Ray|2019|p=2}} and it is a [[contested concept]]{{Sfn|Moreno-Riano|Trepanier|Hamilton|2012|p=133}} which political scientist [[Wilfred M. McClay]] calls "always a tricky, elusive matter—hard to come by, hard to measure, and hard even to define or describe."<ref>{{Multiref|{{Harvnb|Ray|2019|p=2}}|{{Harvnb|McClay|2012|p=90}}}}</ref>
* [[Statecraft (game)]], a card game
The Ancient Greek philosopher [[Plato]] conceived of the ''statesman'' in his [[Statesman (dialogue)|dialogue of the same name]] as one who oversees and guides the work of many others:<ref>{{Multiref|{{Harvnb|Keohane|2013|pp=27–28}}|{{Harvnb|Plato|1952|p=221}}}}</ref>
* The [[politics]] of a [[state (polity)]]
{{Blockquote|There is an art which controls all these arts. It is concerned with the laws and with all that belongs to the life of the community. It weaves all into its unified fabric with perfect skill. It is a universal art and so we call it by a name of universal scope. That name is one which I believe to belong to this art and to this alone, the name of 'Statesmanship'.}}
* The use of [[power in international relations]]
Plato's conception of statesmanship greatly influenced [[Thomas More|Sir Thomas More]], who considered the "statesman" to be a virtuous leader armed with both the science and art of ruling. He sought to personally cultivate what he conceived as the three elements of statesmanship, those being its science, art, and presupposed personal virtue.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wegemer |first=Gerard B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULg7nSdfweoC |title=Thomas More on Statesmanship |date=1998 |publisher=CUA Press |isbn=978-0-8132-0913-5 |page=2 |language=en}}</ref>
* ''[[Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World]]'', a 2003 book by Margaret Thatcher
{{Disambiguation}}
According to Andrew Brady Spalding, the word ''statecraft'' may allow a narrow and a broad understanding. The narrow conception can be defined as "managing relations between states to the advantage of one's own country", a traditional usage dating back to [[Niccolò Machiavelli]].{{Sfn|Spalding|2024|p=57}} Otherwise, the term can be used broadly, as [[Colin Talbot]] puts it, "for the study of states and governments and how to successfully build, run and adapt them, internally and externally."{{Sfn|Spalding|2024|p=58}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Talbot |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Talbot |date=9 January 2023 |title=The science of government: the seven elements of statecraft |url=https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/the-science-of-government-setting-out-the-seven-elements-of-statecraft/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Global Government Forum |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Elder statesman ==
[[File:Nelson Mandela (cropped).jpg|thumb|As an elder statesman in 2009, [[Nelson Mandela]] founded [[The Elders (organization)|The Elders]], an association of elder statespeople]]
An ''elder statesman'' is a retired politician whose influence extends beyond their official term, permitting them to unofficially advise [[incumbent]] politicians.<ref>{{Cite Collins Dictionary|elder statesman|access-date=19 September 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|elder statesman|access-date=19 September 2025}}</ref> The term originally referred to a member of the ''[[genrō]]'', retired statesmen who were consulted by the [[emperor of Japan]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Elder statesman |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199916108.001.0001/acref-9780199916108-e-2497 |encyclopedia=[[Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable]] |date=2009-01-01 |publisher=Chambers Harrap Publishers |isbn=978-0-19-991610-8 |editor-last=Ayto |editor-first=John |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199916108.001.0001 |editor-last2=Crofton |editor-first2=Ian|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Although the activities and influence of elder statesmen remains understudied, Taro Tsuda argues that the modern increase of [[life expectancy]] has likewise increased the influence of elder statesmen, which alongside the significance of informal politics and institutions compels the study of such statesmen.{{Sfn|Tsuda|2025|p=172}}
For example, [[Nelson Mandela]] was often described as the "world's elder statesman" due to his political influence beyond [[Presidency of Nelson Mandela|his presidency of South Africa]] as a key figure of the globalized anti-[[Apartheid]] movement.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Geoghegan |first=Tom |date=2013-12-17 |title=Mandela death: Who next as the world's elder statesman? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22389954 |access-date=2025-09-19 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Mandela founded [[The Elders (organization)|The Elders]] in 2009, an association of elder statespeople with the goal of combining their collective experience to address problems of peace and [[human rights]], who counted among their members [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Kofi Annan]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-10-27 |title=Mandela Forms Group of Global Elders to Focus on World's Ills |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2007-07-18-voa28-66564192/555111.html |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Voice of America |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Flood |first=Zoe |title=Mandela: A statesman who built a nation on the platform of his character |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2013/1205/Mandela-A-statesman-who-built-a-nation-on-the-platform-of-his-character |access-date=2025-09-19 |work=Christian Science Monitor |issn=0882-7729}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Green |first=Richard T. |date=1996 |title=Statecraft and Institutions in the Age of Iconoclasm |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25611178 |journal=Administrative Theory & Praxis |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=74–83 |jstor=25611178 |issn=1084-1806}}
* {{Cite book |last=Keohane |first=Nannerl O. |author-link=Nannerl O. Keohane |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34451/chapter/292306772 |chapter=Leadership in Western Political Thought |date=2013-12-16 |publisher=Oxford University Press |title=The Oxford Handbook of Political Leadership |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199653881.013.001 |pages=25–40}}
* {{Cite book |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203885093-11/ten-points-ponder-pragmatism-critical-re%EF%AC%82ections-knowledge-generation-social-sciences-friedrich-kratochwil |last=Kratochwil |first=Friedrich |author-link=Friedrich Kratochwil |chapter=Ten points to ponder about pragmatism: some critical reflections on knowledge generation in the social sciences |title=Pragmatism in International Relations |date=2009-01-13 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-07648-2 |editor-last=Bauer |editor-first=Harry |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.4324/9780203885093 |editor-last2=Brighi |editor-first2=Elisabetta}}
* {{Cite journal |last=McClay |first=Wilfred M. |author-link=Wilfred M. McClay |date=2012-04-01 |title=Response to Papers by Major, Baldwin, and Bailey: Democratic Statesmanship and the Blue Guitar |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10457097.2012.660850 |journal=Perspectives on Political Science |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=90–92 |doi=10.1080/10457097.2012.660850 |issn=1045-7097|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |chapter=Statesmanship and Democracy in a Global and Comparative Context |last1=Moreno-Riano |first1=Gerson |last2=Trepanier |first2=Lee |last3=Hamilton |first3=Philip |title=The Liberal Arts in America |date=2012 |publisher=Southern Utah University Press |isbn=978-0-935615-36-4 |editor-last=Trepanier |editor-first=Lee |location=Cedar City, Utah |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299656876 |pages=128–148}}
* {{Cite book |author=Plato |author-link=Plato |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.139352 |title=Plato's Statesman |translator-last=Skemp |translator-first=Joseph Bright |date=1952 |publisher=Yale University Press |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ray |first=Clyde |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UR6_DwAAQBAJ |title=Defining Statesmanship: A Comparative Political Theory Analysis |date=2019-11-27 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |isbn=978-1-7936-0375-3 |language=en}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Spalding |first=Andrew |date=2024-11-05 |title=The U.S. Statecraft of Corporate Human Rights Obligations |url=https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mjil/vol39/iss1/6 |journal=Maryland Journal of International Law |volume=39 |issue=1}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Tsuda |first=Taro |date=2025-07-03 |title=Elder statesman as a jack-of-all-trades: The case of Satō Eisaku in 1970s Japan |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/18692729.2023.2247735 |journal=Contemporary Japan |language=en |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=169–193 |doi=10.1080/18692729.2023.2247735 |issn=1869-2729|url-access=subscription }}
Statecraft (stēitkrɑft). [f. statesb. + craft.] The art of conducting state affairs; statesmanship. Sometimes with sinister implication: Crafty or overreaching statesmanship.
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Statecraft (also statesmanship) is the art of conducting public affairs. A statesman, stateswoman, or statesperson is someone who practices statecraft. As a contested concept, statecraft is difficult to define.
The word statecraft, dating from the 1640s,[2] refers to the art of conducting public affairs,[3][4] which entails leading a state or country.[5] Statecraft is thus said to be the practice of a statesman[6] (derived from the Dutch Script error: No such module "Lang".), stateswoman, or statesperson.[7]Statecraft is a synonym of statesmanship,Template:Sfn[8] but in a narrow form may also be synonymous with public diplomacy.[9] Beyond a superficial level, however, finding an exact definition of statecraft is difficultTemplate:Sfn and it is a contested conceptTemplate:Sfn which political scientist Wilfred M. McClay calls "always a tricky, elusive matter—hard to come by, hard to measure, and hard even to define or describe."[10]
The Ancient Greek philosopher Plato conceived of the statesman in his dialogue of the same name as one who oversees and guides the work of many others:[11]
There is an art which controls all these arts. It is concerned with the laws and with all that belongs to the life of the community. It weaves all into its unified fabric with perfect skill. It is a universal art and so we call it by a name of universal scope. That name is one which I believe to belong to this art and to this alone, the name of 'Statesmanship'.
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Plato's conception of statesmanship greatly influenced Sir Thomas More, who considered the "statesman" to be a virtuous leader armed with both the science and art of ruling. He sought to personally cultivate what he conceived as the three elements of statesmanship, those being its science, art, and presupposed personal virtue.[12]
According to Andrew Brady Spalding, the word statecraft may allow a narrow and a broad understanding. The narrow conception can be defined as "managing relations between states to the advantage of one's own country", a traditional usage dating back to Niccolò Machiavelli.Template:Sfn Otherwise, the term can be used broadly, as Colin Talbot puts it, "for the study of states and governments and how to successfully build, run and adapt them, internally and externally."Template:Sfn[13]
An elder statesman is a retired politician whose influence extends beyond their official term, permitting them to unofficially advise incumbent politicians.[14][15] The term originally referred to a member of the genrō, retired statesmen who were consulted by the emperor of Japan.[16]
Although the activities and influence of elder statesmen remains understudied, Taro Tsuda argues that the modern increase of life expectancy has likewise increased the influence of elder statesmen, which alongside the significance of informal politics and institutions compels the study of such statesmen.Template:Sfn
For example, Nelson Mandela was often described as the "world's elder statesman" due to his political influence beyond his presidency of South Africa as a key figure of the globalized anti-Apartheid movement.[17] Mandela founded The Elders in 2009, an association of elder statespeople with the goal of combining their collective experience to address problems of peace and human rights, who counted among their members Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan.[18][19]
↑Script error: No such module "Footnotes".: "Second, we also use [practice] for activities that imply some form of knowledge and 'craft'. Exercising this knowledge or craft entails discretion and perhaps some form of skill. These are sometimes bound by certain special responsibilities, but their exercise does not seem to be specifiable by rules or a decision algorithm. In this sense, we speak of practising law or medicine, or we maintain that the statesman's activities are part of statecraft."
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