Celebrating 90 Years - Foreign Policy Association

First, diplomacy can work. Sec-
ondly, bad diplomacy is often
weakness in disguise. Good
diplomacy is the judicious, con-
sistent, and creative use of our
strengths. South Africa has
shown that change is possible
without the use of military force.
of networked people are bringing about new
expectations. Compare the Chinese response
to its earthquake tragedy with the dismal
performance of the Burmese government after
its cyclone disaster. In Burma, the United Nations
had to use its authority to get aid through
to cyclone victims. Burma has no system for
communicating the needs of the people to the
government, and the government has no incentive
to meet those needs.
I talked to the U.N. secretary-general
recently, following his return from Rangoon. He
felt he had made a difference. He felt that he
had made progress in getting the generals there
to allow aid workers to operate freely. The aid
is too late for thousands of people, but Ban
Ki-moon’s efforts are now resulting in relief for
many more people than previously received it.
He has had more success getting aid through
than anyone else has.
Based on all this experience, what are
my conclusions? First, diplomacy can work.
Secondly, bad diplomacy is often weakness
in disguise. Good diplomacy is the judicious,
consistent, and creative use of our strengths.
South Africa has shown that change is possible
without the use of military force if we
align forces for change and show conclusively
that change will take place and that change
will be fairly implemented and help a country’s
citizens.
We are battling now for such change in
Zimbabwe and in Burma and, where we face
a very different set of challenges, in Iran. Our
goal is to change the behavior of the Iranian
regime by political means and by applying
economic pressure. We keep all options on
the table and make sure that we explore all the
diplomatic routes.
Kosovo showed in 1999 that military force,
including peacekeeping, can be an important
tool of diplomacy. But such force must be
deployed powerfully and accurately. Right now,
we cannot accomplish deployment of this kind
in Darfur. The risks of using force in Iran have
to be weighed very carefully. Iraq has shown
that when we intervene militarily, we need to
restore law and order from Day 1, provide essential
services, and lay the basis for effective governance.
This tenet applies to crises elsewhere,
including Afghanistan, Liberia, and Congo. The
United Nations has a lot more to do in post-
FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION | 97
MEETINGS: PRESENTATION BY SIR JOHN SAWERS