Word: diplomatized
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...those forebears, Saddam is by no means crazy. Rather, he is a man willing to do almost anything to get what he wants -- and he wants to dominate the Middle East much as Nebuchadnezzar once did. "He is an extremely shrewd, cold-blooded, clever thug," says a senior British diplomat who has dealt with him. "Human life means nothing to him." He plays the complex game of Middle East politics by the bareknuckle rules of the region. Says another diplomat: "He does what he thinks is expedient. He is not driven by ideology or whim. He coldly calculates every move...
According to a British diplomat, on other occasions Saddam took a band of Cabinet ministers and aides down to Baghdad's central prison to serve as the firing squad for a number of political prisoners. "It was to ensure loyalty through common guilt," says the British official. It also reminds his colleagues what their own destiny might be. Amnesty International has estimated the number of executions in Iraq at hundreds a year, and the secret police are everywhere. Torture is commonplace. It is a crime to own a typewriter without police permission. It is death to speak against the "Father...
...Gorbachev would agree so quickly. The Soviet leader clearly wanted to settle the issue of German unification so he could move on to his country's domestic problems. But the atmosphere surely helped. By the time they made their announcement, the two men were laughing together. Observes a Western diplomat in Moscow: "It may come as a surprise, but Kohl and Gorbachev kind of like each other...
...coalition partner of Helmut Schmidt's Social Democratic Party. But in 1982 he broke ranks with Schmidt over economic policy, making it possible for Kohl to become Chancellor. In return, Genscher got to keep his post. In early 1987 Genscher became the first major Western diplomat to urge that Gorbachev be taken "at his word," a position that put him at odds not only with Kohl but also with the Reagan Administration. Last year Genscher persuaded a reluctant Kohl to back him in blocking NATO's plans to replace aging American Lance missiles in West Germany with new weapons whose...
...visionary. Among the Foreign Minister's rewards has been a vastly improved relationship with his U.S. counterpart, James Baker. Though the two men sparred testily over the Lance affair, they now act like old pals. Both are workaholics, lawyers by training, brainy and pragmatic; when together, they cut through diplomatic blather with hyperspeed. "Genscher loves to play with Baker," says a German diplomat. "He understands how Baker's mind works -- so much like...