Word: diplomatic
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Latin American diplomats hardly know what to make of it all. Should they just lay on the customary round of frozen-smile receptions, exquisitely gallant introductions to dignitaries, and hurried side trips to orphanages? Or should they treat the First Lady of the U.S. as a full-fledged spokeswoman for her husband's foreign policies?which they sometimes find puzzling? "I really can't think of her talking substance," remarked one Latin American ambassador last week as Rosalynn Carter finished boning up for a two-week, 12,000-mile swing through seven countries. If Mrs. Carter does...
...Russians have usually proved themselves stolidly tough and reasonably honest. Usually. In talks on the television rights for the 1980 Olympics, CBS believed until the last minute that it had concluded a bargain-only to learn that the Russians had gone to NBC for $85 million. A British diplomat recalls how during one negotiation "a Soviet diplomat led me to believe-by appropriate nods and silences, though never uttering a word-that he was willing to share certain information. When I showed him what I had, he read it avidly. When I asked him for his stuff in return...
Surprises offend the Soviets. Says one West German diplomat: "Often you feel your Russian counterpart needs to check with Moscow if you propose a tea break." Although Russian negotiators are entrusted with little discretionary power, their dogmatism can sometimes be penetrated through judicious use of the well-timed - and lengthy - unofficial lunch or dinner. Via such "back channels," and with sufficient lubrication, each side can get a feeling for the other's negotiating terrain...
...unity government of all parties, or at least a coalition with the Likud, whose blunt campaign slogan is to give "not one inch" of the occupied territories, A squabbling, hang-tough government headed by the hawkish Peres would not be a promising participant in any negotiations. Said an Egyptian diplomat: "If their government is a weak coalition, forget about Geneva and peace for this year...
Much is known of Geoffrey Chaucer's life, much lost. He was a vintner's son who rose (through cleverness and, no doubt, the ability to entertain highborn ladies with after-dinner recitals) to become a government official, courtier and diplomat under three successive monarchs - Edward II, Edward III and Richard II. He was at least briefly a soldier, and while fighting in France under the Black Prince, he was captured, then ransomed for ?16. The smallness of this sum is a favorite joke among Chaucerians, but it amounts to $3,840 in modern terms, by Gardner...