Rhetorical question --- Thank you for this introduction to Amb Mahbubani and the link.

Why do you say that the title of his speech 'What is International Diplomacy?' is a rhetorical question? I can see why the title of his book 'Has the West lost it?' might qualify as one, but it seems to me that he breaks down the title of his speech into its component parts (what is the international state today? what is diplomacy? what can you, the audience, do/contribut?) and addresses it as a genuine information-seeking Wh Q.

There is a kind of Q used by lecturers and textbooks which is not addressed at the audience but used as a heading for the discussion that follows. Is this what you have in mind?

Source author: Biljana Scott biscott@diplomacy.edu