He could probably fine-tune some diplomatic manoeuvring but when it came down to the real world he was a lamb sent to the slaughter.
This began a month of diplomatic manoeuvring between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, and Britain called the July Crisis.
As defects in the treaties became plain, yet more diplomatic manoeuvring was needed.
After some diplomatic manoeuvring by Talleyrand, the definitive pendulum measurement was agreed to take place in France.
The details of diplomatic manoeuvring - what messages other Arabs took from Washington to Baghdad, what the Russians did, how the American chargé d'affaires in Baghdad kept busy for five months - remain unknown.
This marked the culmination of the progressive deterioration of Byzantine-Persian relations over the previous years, which manifested itself in diplomatic and military manoeuvring in their geopolitical periphery.
What papal diplomatic manoeuvring meant to local churchmen may be easily illustrated.
Chronique de septembre, Nizan's last published work, is a detailed record of the diplomatic manoeuvring which culminated in the "peace" agreement signed by Chamberlain, Daladier and Hitler in September 1938.
After Pavia, the fate of the French king, and of France herself, became the subject of furious diplomatic manoeuvring.
Our Parliament will have to decide whether to remain silent and disciplined or whether to be the forum where action is taken in the name of European interests and values, today almost lost behind diplomatic manoeuvring and national interests.