The Special Advisor to the Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Kwabena Osei-Danquah on Friday launched a book titled 'Breaking Down Diplomacy: An Insider’s Guide to the Art of Negotiation.'

The diplomat who aims to share his 33-year experience in the 251-paged book said he was inspired to write a book after a conversation with the first Saudi Arabian woman to get a doctorate degree, Dr Thoraya Obaid.

According to him, a key lesson he learned over the years in order to be effective in negotiation is to always “stand in the shoes of your opponent or your counterpart”.

With the rapid growth of technology, the author noted that new diplomacy attuned to a redefinition of national interest is needed.

“My challenge in writing the book was how to capture the lessons of quite a long time of diplomacy without breaking the bonds that I’d built over the decades with diplomats from every corner of the world.

“So I toned down the telling but stuck to the truth. And my hope is that my respect for the craft of diplomacy and every society shines through the detailed recounting,” he said.

Giving a review on the book, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) Rector, Prof Philip Ebow Bondzi-Simpson said the book documents the personal life experiences of the veteran statesman.

Prof Bondzi-Simpson stated that the comprehensive nature of the book makes it conducive to be used as a practitioner’s guide, a textbook for many disciplines.

"A fertile mind requires to be fertile and a good feeding of the mind is from a good reading of a book. I, therefore, recommend this book to all of you."

Paramount Chief of Essikado, Nana Kobina Nketsia V who chaired the event, urged renowned individuals to write books on their craft and how they chalked their achievement.

For him, writing a book on experiences is one of the greatest things any person could leave for the country, therefore, he is proud of Ambassador Osei-Danquah for putting together the piece.

"Personally, I have been urging all kinds of Ghanaians to write. We need to put our experience down so that one day somebody will pick it up and it forms part of consciousness,” he said.

“So I urge all of you especially those of you in the diplomatic service to follow the example of my son [Ambassador Osei-Danquah],” he said.

Launching the book, Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway said the publication of the book is timely noting that diplomacy is an indispensable tool that is used by the government to advance the national interest and pursue global peace.

She also praised the author, Amb. Osei-Danquah for his commitment to documenting such a comprehensive piece of work.

“Writing a book is no mean task and it is not for the faint-hearted. But this is not to say we will not attempt, Nana Chair. You have tasked all of us to put something down and we will do so.

“To write, you need to have the strength and patience to sit for long hours to put down your thoughts in the proper sequence,” she said.

Mr Kwabena Osei-Danquah in 2018 was appointed as the Chef de Cabinet of the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, who, until her election, was the Foreign Minister of Ecuador.

The 60-year-old diplomat has served his country with distinction in various international assignments, including stints in Ghana’s Embassy accredited to the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary and Poland and Ghana’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York from 1998 to 2002, before joining the UN that year.

He served as a negotiator on behalf of the Group of 77 (developing countries) and China at the historic Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development, as well as the Ministerial Outcomes for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Bali in 2002.

He is an astute and experienced diplomat who has served on the bureaus of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UNFPA and the International Conference on Financing and Development, held in Monterrey, México, in 2002.

While at the UNFPA, Mr Osei-Danquah was credited with setting up a robust and successful intergovernmental and governance structure to advance the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development.

He also led the historic 20-year review of the implementation of the Programme of Action by Member States.

The regional outcomes of that review, including the Bali Youth Forum, the International Human Rights Conference in The Netherlands, as well as a Women’s Health Forum in México, are considered key international engagements for advancing the rights of all individuals in promoting the agenda of “leave no one behind”.

Mr Osei-Danquah is a writer in his private life.

In September 2018, he released his first book titled, “Life Poems: Traveling the Emotional Universe”.