Independent Diplomat, by Carne Ross

This is a small book with a big agenda: changing the face of British diplomacy. Carne Ross used to be one of the breed of British diplomats who stride purposefully through the corridors of the UN on their way to the Security Council, conferring handshakes and pats on the back of lesser mortals. You know the type - arrogant, cynical, confident that they represent a nation which is indispensable simply because of its veto power.

Seen from the heady heights of the top table, the unfortunate non-permanent Council members are "irrelevant". Of course, things don't always go to plan, but that's not because "we" are wrong. Ross describes how one recalcitrant Asian ambassador told him bluntly: "I'd rather be fucked up the arse with a rusty spoon than agree with you, Carne."

But as Ross sees it, the Foreign Office doesn't "do" self-criticism, and the secrecy-obsessed department is in the grip of a pervasive complacency. According to the official view, if Britain failed to secure a second UN resolution to invade Iraq, it must be the fault of the French, whose clumsy veto threat was seized upon by the Blair government. Ross has a different perspective: what about the failure of British diplomacy, unable to persuade enough countries to vote in favour?

He was a diplomat on the fast track towards glory when he made headlines by becoming one of only two Foreign Office officials to resign in the build-up to the Iraq war. He ended his FO career at the age of 38 after testifying in secret to the Butler committee on his experience as chief negotiator on Iraq at Britain's UN mission. That brought him face to face with the way the "facts" were being shaped to suit the policy even in 2002.

This eloquent memoir focuses on the "diplomatic deficit" he has identified from his postings to Bonn, Afghanistan and New York, which leads him to the conclusion that officials would benefit from greater scrutiny and interrogation from the outside world. Ross rightly excoriates the "pact between the unaccountable and the irresponsible" in which the public gets on with life while the diplomats get on with dealing with the world, whatever the consequences.

Since his resignation, when he founded Independent Diplomat, a consultancy for entities lacking the resources of bigger powers, Ross has seen diplomatic reality from the other side of the negotiating table, where he represents Kosovo, Western Sahara and Somaliland. He has been on a Dantesque journey, a "slow descent from illusion to disillusionment followed by a return to belief or perhaps a new illusion," which has clearly made him feel that he has become a better person.

While his observations on the state of contemporary diplomacy are well drawn, and with commendable honesty, his recommendations for remedial action are less convincing. Should we get rid of the separate cadre of diplomats altogether, as Ross argues? I suspect not. But his book does have the merit of posing a fundamental question, at a time when Downing Street has hijacked foreign policy. What is the point of the Foreign Office?

Anne Penketh is diplomatic editor of 'The Independent'