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Diplomacy Off the Script: What Really Happened in Alaska and Why It Matters Now
The Old Playbook Is Dead
Gideon Ashwood
August 19, 2025
Diplomacy Off the Script: What Really Happened in Alaska and Why It Matters Now
A hotel staffer found a stack of documents sitting in a lobby printer.
They weren’t menus or flight manifests. They were detailed plans for a high-level meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Eight pages. Unsecured. Out in the open.
This was not how diplomacy used to work. But it’s how diplomacy works now.
No NATO coordination. No Ukrainian officials in the room. Just two leaders and a hastily arranged meeting set up by a real estate friend of Trump’s instead of the State Department.
This wasn’t just a summit. It was a turning point.
The Old Playbook Is Dead
In 1985, when Reagan met Gorbachev in Geneva, the choreography started months in advance. Their teams worked every angle. Reagan had briefing books, intel briefings, and contingencies prepared by a dedicated committee.
It was planned down to the minute.
Last week, Trump walked into Anchorage with a different philosophy. He trusted his instincts more than the experts. His private envoy Steven Witkoff, a businessman with no formal diplomatic experience, flew to Moscow to set it up. Trump leaned on his self-described “chemistry” with Putin and ignored standard protocol.
That’s the shift. Old diplomacy was measured and methodical. The new version is fast, personal, and often improvisational.
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