Accidental diplomacy is the practice by a government of inadvertently engaging in international diplomacy after all attempts at saying diplomacy has been exhausted have failed to produce diplomatic results. Politico coined the term in September of 2013 after Secretary of State John Kerry engaged in it while trying to amass support for a military strike on Syria at a news conference in London. Though this may be the first reported instance of this kind of diplomacy, it may have historical precedents, and based on this instance alone, it may have a promising future in international relations.
The accidental diplomat's key tool is the gaffe, in which a state official unintentionally thinks, and says sensical, reality-based words that deviate from an ideological script and its inherent truthiness.
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