May 05, 2004
The State of Diplomacy
If insanity is doing the same thing but expecting different results, a lot of the world goes crazy over Israel. A bunch of diplomats who were unsuccessful in the past in getting the Palestinians to stop killing Israelis in return for their own country are upset that President Bush wants to do something different - namely recognizing reality. So the old boundaries, which do not take into account "facts on the ground" are out; negotiations over the right of palestinian return are out since Israel could never agree; and bargaining with the current power structure of the palestinians which has only the legitimicy of force, is composed of terrorists, and has never bargained in good faith, and which has never renounced the destruction of Israel as the ultimate goal is also out. What does this mean?
Well, it means that the illusion of progress is over, and illusions die hard for those who believe them. It means that the palestinians won't get a state until they get serious about being a nation and not just an odd cross between victims and terrorists.
As for our state department, well, I'm not impressed. Someone I know worked at the state department. I noticed that they were reading Howard Zinn's history of the US and was told that it was very popular there. I asked if they had heard of Walter Mead's Special Providence. Nope. Never heard of it. On the one hand, you have a truly miserable book that's all about how bad America is; on the other you have a book that offers a great deal of insight about America and diplomacy. Which is the popular book in the State Department? You got it, the miserable one.
Posted by Kevin Murphy at May 5, 2004 04:27 PM | International PoliticsActions have consequences. The following actions taken by the Palestinians have had negative consequences for them:
1. Yasser Arafat refusing Ehud Barak's offer of 90% of the West Bank. Arafat held out for Jerusalem. Now he's getting a lot less.
2. Palestinian militants using the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem as an armed hideout.
3. Palestinians celebrating and handing out candy when the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked (NOT Arafat).
4. Hamas continuing to send suicide bombers and seek the destruction of the state of Israel.
The world doesn't stand still. Offers expire. Parties who behave badly find that people don't want to deal with them any more. How did they really think President Bush and the rest of America would react?
