by A. G. NOORANI
Like individuals, nations have a style, an attitude and an outlook. They are reflected most strikingly in the style of their diplomacy. Our region is at a crossroads today. Afghanistan holds the key to regional peace; so does Iran. The United States` diplomacy on both will make the big difference between peace and protracted conflict.
Last Tuesday, on Jan 24, Yale University Press published a book with stunning revelations, based on official records and briefings. In May 2010, Turkey and Brazil had successfully negotiated with Iran an accord on the nuclear question, the Tehran Declaration. It was in conformity with a letter to the mediators by President Barack Obama.
Iran would have parted with 1,200kg of low-enriched uranium, about a half of its stockpile as a prelude to a wider accord. The US scuttled it and instead drummed up support in the UN Security Council for sanctions against Iran. The book`s title is A Single Roll of the Dice and its author is a highly respected scholar Trita Parsi who is frequently consulted by western and Asian governments.
In an earlier book Treacherous Alliance he had exposed how the US rebuffed Iran`s overture for peace in May 2003, made through Swiss ambassador Tim Guldimann.
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This policy has a long pedigree. On Feb 8, 1950 Secretary of State Dean Acheson said that the United States` policy was, indeed, to bring about understandings, but “by creating situations so strong that they can be recognised and out of them can grow agreement”. On Feb 16, he spoke of the need “to create situations of strength”. Thus was born the doctrine of `negotiation from strength`. After the collapse of the USSR the doctrine acquired menacing nuances. They would doom the US parleys with the Taliban to failure.
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