When the going gets tough anywhere in the world, and the United States wants to pull out its big diplomatic guns, it’s often the secretary of state who will get going. The head of the State Department is the diplomat-in-chief for the United States. His or her presence at the negotiating table should bring great weight to bear.
There is a point of diminishing return, however, when a secretary of state—or any other high-level figure—travels so much that their intervention becomes routine and even pedantic.
In the early 1990s, Secretary of State Warren Christopher distinguished himself by the sheer number of trips he embarked on to meet Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. He diminished the office of the secretary, and essentially transformed himself into a junior diplomat. Assad got a propaganda boon: After all, here was the secretary of state of the most powerful nation on earth traveling to meet him!
Alas, it seems the Obama administration is now making the same mistake in Turkey. From Turkey’s Hürriyet Daily News:
“Turmoil brings Turkey one-way US diplomacy”
The number of senior U.S. officials visiting Turkey has dramatically increased recently, likely due to turmoil in the Middle East, notably including the Syrian crisis, Ankara’s fight against terrorism, Iran, and the NATO anti-missile radar system housed in Turkey… “Right now, there are certain things expected of the United States. It has not yet catered to those expectations,” [Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan said in a recent interview on CNN International.
Diplomats like to travel, and aides scramble to go along on their trips. We have reached the point in Turkey, however, of diminishing returns. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has perhaps the most strategic sense of anyone in the Obama administration. How unfortunate, therefore, she is transforming herself into Warren Christopher, the sequel.
He pronounces Pahk-EEE-stun very authentically. The Pakistanis obviously appreciate it. n nHe traveled all the way to Cairo to give his 'speech to the Muslim world'. They obviously appreciate it as well. That goes double for the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Islamist dictatorship Obama midwifed. They certainly appreciate it. n nHe knocked out Gaddafi(Hillary Clinton cackling demonically 'we came, we saw, he died' -), and turned over Libya to Islamists. They obviously appreciate it. n nHe chose not to support the Democratic movement in Iran, to preserve Ahmadinejad's good graces, and vilified Netanyahu as he extolled the Iranian leadership. They obviously appreciate it. n nSo if he's done all these good things for them, why are they killing our diplomats and trashing our embassies? n nWhy isn't Iran listening to him? n nIt's a head scratcher for sure. No doubt Leon Panetta and the genius for the ages Petraous have a plan, and this is all part of it. n nIt's all going exactly as planned.
Rereading Monica Crowley's book on Nixon's last five years – and how sharp he mostly was until the end – it is spooky to have your opinions on SecState syndrome/Warren Christopher i.a. nThe more Warren C travelled to Syria the safer dictator Assad felt about himself since WC mistook air miles for RESULTS! Henry Kissinger did some good in and out of planes. nWC did NOT!
I can;t believe Rubin is a fan of Clinton. Hopefully, it is only relative to the others in the Admin.
That's darn tootin correct! Hillary Clinton is like a fine wine and her bouquet must not be spoiled. Her vintage must be stored in exquisitely balanced conditions, until the time is right to break out her unique fragrance. Say, hmm, the first round of fund-raisers fot the Hillary 2016 campaign. n n