{"id":40107,"date":"2018-06-21T14:30:38","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T04:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=40107"},"modified":"2018-06-21T11:07:48","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T01:07:48","slug":"the-despot-and-the-diplomat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-despot-and-the-diplomat\/","title":{"rendered":"The despot and the diplomat"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Back in 2005, when I was the United States\u2019 lead negotiator at the six-party talks on North Korea\u2019s nuclear program, I looked at the instructions I received for my first meeting, a Chinese-hosted banquet that included a North Korean delegation. If there was any toasting (not unheard of at Chinese banquets), I was not to join in. Apparently, I was expected to sit there, without touching my glass, glowering with arms folded until everyone else had placed theirs back on the table. Later, when I visited North Korea for the first time, I was instructed not to smile at my hosts. Apparently, I was expected to offer only angry stares.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump has obviously modified those instructions. In fact, with his unending praise of Kim Jong-un\u2019s leadership, his clumsy, impromptu salute of one of Kim\u2019s generals, and his endorsement of all things North Korean (especially the potential for beachfront property development), Trump has all but abandoned any pretence that the US promotes a broader set of values. But while Trump may have overshot the mark, the idea that the US delegation should sit with glasses untouched during a toast also strikes the wrong tone.<\/p>\n

In September 1995, during the final month of the Bosnian War, the US delegation to peace negotiations, led by Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, arrived in Belgrade for talks with Serbia\u2019s dictator, Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107. According to Milo\u0161evi\u0107, he could not compel the Bosnian Serbs to withdraw their heavy weapons and lift the bloody four-year siege of Sarajevo. He asked Holbrooke to meet with the Bosnian Serb leaders, Radovan Karad\u017ei\u0107 and Ratko Mladi\u0107, both of whom were later convicted of committing war crimes. Holbrooke asked where they were. \u2018Over there in that villa\u2019, Milo\u0161evi\u0107 replied. \u2018Can I call for them?\u2019<\/p>\n

Holbrooke hastily brought our delegation together for a quick parley. \u2018Should we meet them?\u2019 he asked me. \u2018And if we do, should I shake their hands?\u2019 Thinking about the hundreds of thousands of Sarajevans\u2014the many who had been murdered and those facing starvation as a result of the continuing siege\u2014I replied, \u2018Shake their hands and let\u2019s get this over with and go home.\u2019 We did. The siege of Sarajevo was lifted the next day.<\/p>\n

Whether shaking a hand helps or not, negotiating while shaking a fist has little record of success. During this year\u2019s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to meet with the North Korean delegation. Perhaps to cover his back at home, Pence delivered what were then the usual tough-sounding talking points before the meeting. The North Koreans promptly cancelled, as if to ask, What would be the point?<\/p>\n

During the period I dealt with the six-party talks, I avoided adding my voice to the anti-North Korean invective. I knew that soon\u2014often every other week\u2014I would have to meet them again, and while a display of moxie might help me in Washington, it would not help at the tip of the spear, where it was my job to negotiate away the North Koreans\u2019 nuclear ambitions. There is a big difference between talking tough on television talk shows and sitting across from the North Koreans. Direct diplomacy is a serious means to a serious end. Posturing from a distance is not part of it.<\/p>\n

Sometimes body language is hard to get right. As US ambassador to Iraq, the instructions I received from Washington rarely came with any commensurate sense of responsibility for the outcome. I was told that my job included helping the Iraqi opposition rid themselves of then-Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. US officials revelled in their amped-up toughness in Washington meeting rooms, like high school athletes banging on the lockers before a big game. But when they actually came out on the field and met with Maliki, they gave him no reason to believe they wanted anything but the best for him.<\/p>\n

I would sit in such meetings watching Maliki glance over at me, wondering why I had previously warned him of diminishing US government patience with his autocratic rule and dire consequences. Meanwhile, the visitors from Washington made points that were so subtle and nuanced that Maliki would have needed a decoding device to comprehend their real meaning.<\/p>\n

Any diplomat must be purposeful in a negotiation on behalf of his or her country, which means being clear-eyed about the desired outcome and the best way to achieve it. In Singapore, the issue was the North Korean nuclear weapons program. Nothing else really mattered.<\/p>\n

Time will tell whether the North Koreans reciprocate Trump\u2019s professed affection for them. Kim gave away little, and was probably stunned when, for the first time ever, a US president accepted at face value North Korea\u2019s supposed anxiety about US joint military exercises with South Korea (which the North Koreans know to be defensive in purpose). That was too large a concession, and, one way or another, it will have to be taken back. More broadly, a framework for peace and security that includes all the directly affected parties\u2014South Korea, Japan, Russia and China\u2014will need to be designed.<\/p>\n

Similarly, North Korea\u2019s human rights record, one of the world\u2019s worst, will have to be taken up in the future\u2014perhaps, as I signalled during the six-party talks, as a component of eventual diplomatic relations. But, for now, the North Korean nuclear program must be at the top of any negotiating agenda.<\/p>\n

Whether Trump\u2019s approach actually works with North Korea will depend on the diplomacy that follows the Singapore summit. Over to you, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in 2005, when I was the United States\u2019 lead negotiator at the six-party talks on North Korea\u2019s nuclear program, I looked at the instructions I received for my first meeting, a Chinese-hosted banquet that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":40109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[294,1428,86],"class_list":["post-40107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-diplomacy","tag-donald-trump","tag-north-korea","dinkus-trump-kim-summit"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe despot and the diplomat | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-despot-and-the-diplomat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The despot and the diplomat | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Back in 2005, when I was the United States\u2019 lead negotiator at the six-party talks on North Korea\u2019s nuclear program, I looked at the instructions I received for my first meeting, a Chinese-hosted banquet that ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-despot-and-the-diplomat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-21T04:30:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-06-21T01:07:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/640px-Trump_and_Kim_shaking_hands_in_the_summit_room.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christopher R. 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