An ambassador must explain each government to the other, especially constraints that are hard to see in translated diplomatic language. American officials distrusted Joseph Grew when he relayed Japanese political realities, treating his effort to interpret Tokyo as evidence that he had become too sympathetic. That reaction mattered because American diplomacy was accustomed to European powers with more familiar political vocabularies and conventions. Rejecting an informed intermediary removed one of the few channels capable of translating cultural differences before they hardened into strategic miscalculation.
Notable Point · 25:50-27:03
Why an ambassador must explain the other government's limits
Joseph Grew's difficulty being heard in Washington illustrates how culturally unfamiliar diplomacy can fail when an ambassador's warnings are mistaken for sympathy with the host country.