Word: diplomatic
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Most Presidents do not fully understand the exhilaration in waging peace until at last they try it. Take Richard Nixon, who found that playing global diplomat was a fine way for a politician to turn almost magically into a statesman. He got a Viet Nam ceasefire, made friends with mainland China, and signed an arms limitation agreement with the Soviets, all within a year. In a life of fighting one damn thing after another, he never had such a good time...
...exception of France, no Western European country has shown the willingness to spend what it takes to develop a credible military force. "The Europeans made a conscious decision not to emphasize conventional arms buildups way back in the 1950s," says a U.S. diplomat. "They opted for the American nuclear umbrella instead. If they want that umbrella to be folded up, they presumably know the consequences and accept them. We can't graft backbone...
Walt justifiably complains that the single Soviet representative to the Harvard conference, diplomat Yuri Kaprolov, presented a one-sided, and largely incorrect, history of the arms race. But Walt does not add that other speakers were quick to express similar skepticism at the time. Because the audience demonstrated a naive enthusiasm by applauding the Soviet emissary, they should not be condemned to silence on the broader issues under scrutiny. Walt's suggestion that the public reserve criticism of current policies until it can offer politicians and military leaders detailed and specific proposals reveals not only narrow-minded elitism, but also...
...veteran diplomat, who holds the second-ranking post in the U.S. embassy, carefully refrained from speculating about who was responsible for the attack, but he did say that his attacker seemed to be a "Middle Eastern type." Later that day Secretary of State Alexander Haig strongly suggested that the man behind the attack was Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan strongman and exporter of terrorism. Said Haig: "We do have repeated reports coming to us from reliable sources that Mr. Gaddafi has been funding, sponsoring, training, harboring terrorist groups who conduct activities against the lives of American diplomats." Haig had "no other...
...President's businesslike style is already drawing plaudits. Says one Western diplomat: "Sadat was a visionary, but he certainly was no administrator...