Diplomatic move of Parisian -- took steps. getting cut short (8)
I believe the answer is:
demarche
'diplomatic move' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'of parisian took steps getting cut short' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'of parisian' could be 'de' and 'de' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for demarche that I've seen before include "A political initiative" , "A diplomatic initiative" , "Diplomatic protest or manoeuvre" , "political step" , "A move or countermove in diplomatic relations" .)