Diplomacy can meet urgent and complicated 21st century challenges, but only by taking a fresh look at the tools used to make it work, a former U.S. ambassador said at Duke Wednesday. “Truth is elusive. Knowledge is imperfect. Things happen,” Robert Pearson said. “This is forever work, as long as we inhabit the globe.”

Pearson, who was U.S. ambassador to Turkey during a storied career with the Foreign Service, said the accomplishments of diplomacy have been downplayed in the action-oriented American historical mindset.