Russia is kicking our asses in diplomacy

It didn't get much attention in the American press, but an important event happened in the skies over Syria last month.

After a drone aircraft alleged to be Iranian strayed into what was alleged to be Israeli airspace from a position in Syria, Israeli jets struck across the Syrian border, reportedly knocking out a command-and-control center. The hostilities escalated when Syrian artillery brought down an Israeli F–16—which prompted a new wave of Israeli airstrikes. At that point, it looked as if Prime Minister Netanyahu was prepared to escalate his campaign against the Iranian presence on Syrian soil even further—effectively opening a new front in a war that finally shows promise of ending.

Notable enough. But it is what happened next that interests me most.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation.

No one is saying who placed the call, but, given what was said, it is a good guess the Russian president telephoned the Israeli prime minister. By the official accounts from Moscow, Putin told Netanyahu to cut it out. “The president of Russia spoke out in favor of avoiding any steps that could lead to a new round of confrontation, which would be dangerous for everyone in the region,” the Kremlin’s terse summary stated.

Israel, our closest ally in the middle east, was having a military crisis.
Where was the White House? Where was the Pentagon?
Who knows?

However, there was someone paying attention, and that someone was Putin.

Haaretz published an interesting analysis of these events and the conversation that followed. “Putin put an end to the confrontation between Israel and Iran in Syria and both sides accepted his decision,” the Israeli daily suggested.

Obviously there was an adult in the room, and that adult was from Moscow. Not Washington.
But don't make the mistake in thinking that Putin's influence is limited to the middle east.

But despite the transatlantic show of anger at Russia during the Munich Security Conference, Western officials and diplomats also acknowledged an uncomfortable truth: that Russia is critical to resolving many of the world’s worst conflicts.
From eastern Ukraine to North Korea, Russia’s status as a nuclear power, its military intervention in Syria and its veto on the United Nations Security Council mean any diplomacy must ultimately involve Moscow, officials said.
“We can’t find a political solution without Russia,” Norwegian Defence Minister Frank Bakke Jensen told Reuters. “We need to reach a point where we can work to find a political solution, and they must be central to that.”

Even today, with Syria killing hundreds of civilians in the rebel-held pocket of eastern Ghouta, who did the UN call on?

“France and Germany call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the implementation of a ceasefire to provide civilian support, humanitarian access and medical evacuation, as called for by the UN,” the two governments said.
“France and Germany call on Russia to shoulder its responsibilities in this regard,” they said in a joint statement as Macron and Merkel met other EU leaders for talks in Brussels.

How did this happen? How did it come to this?
I don't watch much John Oliver anymore since he went full ScaryPutin!, but this episode isn't bad.
If you can't wait, jump 5:30 into the video.

It's accurate to say that Trump has taken our diplomatic standing to a new low, but you must also acknowledge that America hasn't taken diplomacy seriously since President Clinton.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis is one of the officers—in his case, a retired Marine four-star general—who has poured cold water on the notion that we can kill our way to victory. He has said repeatedly that he the reason he needs more military assets and a wider military presence is to give our diplomats the leverage to make peace. But as more troops head into battle, our diplomats are dormant: crucial appointments remain unfilled; veteran foreign service officers are fleeing in droves; and the one time that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson opened a back-door negotiation with the North Koreans, President Trump slammed it shut. So we just dig ourselves deeper in conflicts that those in charge don’t know how to fight or win—that may be unwinnable.

For far too long there has been no respect with Republicans for the art of diplomacy, and it just keeps getting worse.
Our approach to the world has all the subtlety of a 3rd grade bully.

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Wink's picture

our ass diplomatically.
Our idea of diplomacy is
how many bomb drops required.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

earthling1's picture

@Wink
anybody can kick our ass militarily too.
Korea was a wash.
Cuba a failure.
Vietnam a rout.
Still working it in Afganistan.
Ditto Iraq.
Being shoved out of Syria.
When you stop and take a hard look, peasants and cave dwelling rock throwers are just too much for our trillion dollar a year military.
In any other part of the world, military leaders would be stood up in front of a firing squad by now.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Wink's picture

"They" don't want to win.
@earthling1
There's no money in peace.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

@earthling1

... In any other part of the world, military leaders would be stood up in front of a firing squad by now.

Or at least tried for war crimes...

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

lotlizard's picture

@Ellen North

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Meteor Man's picture

I tried to take the day off from c99p and look what happens. Not hard to see this freight train coming. I'll just drop this here for further analysis:

Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics:
by Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2004-05-01/soft-po...

[Edit: Well that was a disappointment. I expected more after the "Continue Reading" tab. Oh well, here's the key point that everybody here already understands:

Indeed, societies often embrace American values and culture but resist U.S. foreign policies. But overall, Nye's message is that U.S. security hinges as much on winning hearts and minds as it does on winning wars.

end edit]

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

The Aspie Corner's picture

But my wife or her family would never go with me. There's nothing for us here and there never will be. Hell, if I could I'd move to Japan's Cat Island.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4DbSTf3GyY]

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Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.

Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.

Socialprogressive's picture

and carry a big stick has turned into speak stupidly and swing a big dick.

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When I offer to wash your back in the shower, all you have to say is yes or no.
Not all this "who are you, and how did you get in here?" nonsense.

@Socialprogressive
Anyone that wants to talk instead of kill is clearly insane.

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Azazello's picture

This is Maria Zakharova, Lavrov's spokesperson.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-EgzOdJ5S8 width:500 height:300]

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

@Azazello

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

divineorder's picture

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

when even the State Department hires its own mercenaries.

Bit of a contradiction in terms, no?

Trump rightfully gets a lot of ridicule for his ham fisted, ugly American doofussness, but structurally speaking, the militarization of our diplomatic corps really got mobilized when Hillary decided she wanted her own private army.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Meteor Man's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger
The soft power link was from 2004 when there may have still been a chance to salvage the concept of diplomacy. Then Obama and Hillary happened and put the last nail in the coffin.

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

Putin keeps his word and the agreements he makes; the US government doesn't. Putin is sane and the US PTB aren't - and have been known to plot nuking current allies at a later date. Who would you turn to?

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.