At the turn of the 1960s, Léopold Sédar Senghor and John F. Kennedy vowed to radically transform African foreign policy. Through a close reading of a recently declassified correspondence and a historical analysis of two behind-the-scenes negotiations, Senghor’s first state visit to the U.S. and Kennedy’s support for the First World Festival of Negro Arts, Ripert examines the private and public concatenations that lead both statesmen to transform policymaking not by implementing new policies but by challenging inherited ideologies. Though their efforts did not always bring successful change in policymaking, the diplomatic correspondence between the two newly elected leaders reveals a more subtle and sustainable transformation: a decolonization of diplomacy.

在 1960 年代之交，Léopold Sédar Senghor 和 John F. Kennedy 发誓要从根本上改变非洲的外交政策。通过仔细阅读最近解密的信件和对两次幕后谈判的历史分析、桑戈尔对美国的首次国事访问和肯尼迪对第一届世界黑人艺术节的支持，里珀特研究了导致两位政治家都不是通过实施新政策而是通过挑战继承的意识形态来改变决策。Though their efforts did not always bring successful change in policymaking, the diplomatic correspondence between the two newly elected leaders reveals a more subtle and sustainable transformation: a decolonization of diplomacy.