Would Machiavelli Have Drawn a Red Line

7/29/2019 Would Machiavelli Have Drawn a Red Line

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Would Machiavelli Have Drawn a Red

Line?The case for subtle diplomacy.

BYROSA BROOKS| MAY 2, 2013

In days of yore, diplomats werediplomatic. Or so, at least, I am led to believe by

fiction and film: Fictional diplomats are erudite, conniving, and suave, treating

allies and enemies alike with the same elegant courtesy, even while arranging

the most sophisticated betrayals.

Consider the urbaneChauvelininThe Scarlet Pimpernel, a manipulative flatterer

who "strove to read the very souls of those with whom he came in contact." Or

take the character of Mr. Dryden in Lawrence of Arabia, who defends

diplomatic duplicity by asserting, "A man who tells lies, like me, merely hides the

truth. But a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he's put it." Above all,
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/02/would_machiavelli_have_drawn_a_red_line_diplomacyhttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/02/would_machiavelli_have_drawn_a_red_line_diplomacyhttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/author/RosaBrookshttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/author/RosaBrookshttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/author/RosaBrookshttp://www.amazon.com/reader/0333753666?_encoding=UTF8&aToken=5|R6YPlkxz3Nt8s8oNuyw%2BthNfPabj%2BY%2BqvaQO0MEupLPReW9QUApyczwZy2dumyDjbhgB%2FwNylcOTRwFBq1AhsAig%2FuM27vDPkpvKjpAhLRM1zTskL56tLzGjwve40lyCokx2yJAXxp3ZD8w9c8UQyafZFzDnEZVu2G8qiQwUmnq%2BZ73%2FPQhttp://www.amazon.com/reader/0333753666?_encoding=UTF8&aToken=5|R6YPlkxz3Nt8s8oNuyw%2BthNfPabj%2BY%2BqvaQO0MEupLPReW9QUApyczwZy2dumyDjbhgB%2FwNylcOTRwFBq1AhsAig%2FuM27vDPkpvKjpAhLRM1zTskL56tLzGjwve40lyCokx2yJAXxp3ZD8w9c8UQyafZFzDnEZVu2G8qiQwUmnq%2BZ73%2FPQhttp://www.amazon.com/reader/0333753666?_encoding=UTF8&aToken=5|R6YPlkxz3Nt8s8oNuyw%2BthNfPabj%2BY%2BqvaQO0MEupLPReW9QUApyczwZy2dumyDjbhgB%2FwNylcOTRwFBq1AhsAig%2FuM27vDPkpvKjpAhLRM1zTskL56tLzGjwve40lyCokx2yJAXxp3ZD8w9c8UQyafZFzDnEZVu2G8qiQwUmnq%2BZ73%2FPQhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Chauvelinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Chauvelinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Chauvelinhttp://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60http://www.angelfire.com/movies/closedcaptioned/lawrence_of_arabia.txthttp://www.angelfire.com/movies/closedcaptioned/lawrence_of_arabia.txthttp://www.angelfire.com/movies/closedcaptioned/lawrence_of_arabia.txthttp://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Chauvelinhttp://www.amazon.com/reader/0333753666?_encoding=UTF8&aToken=5|R6YPlkxz3Nt8s8oNuyw%2BthNfPabj%2BY%2BqvaQO0MEupLPReW9QUApyczwZy2dumyDjbhgB%2FwNylcOTRwFBq1AhsAig%2FuM27vDPkpvKjpAhLRM1zTskL56tLzGjwve40lyCokx2yJAXxp3ZD8w9c8UQyafZFzDnEZVu2G8qiQwUmnq%2BZ73%2FPQhttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/author/RosaBrookshttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/02/would_machiavelli_have_drawn_a_red_line_diplomacyhttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/02/would_machiavelli_have_drawn_a_red_line_diplomacy


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consider that most infamous of real-life diplomats, Niccol Machiavelli.

Dishonest? Certainly. Amoral? Possibly. But rude and obnoxious? Never.

Somewhere along the line, this seems to have changed. Today, many of our

senior-most diplomats (and I include the president in that general category)seem to substitute shrillness for suavity, hectoring intransigence for erudition, and

prissy pomposity for persuasion.

The examples are too numerous to cite, but take that peculiarly popular word

"unacceptable" (as in, "That is unacceptable to the United States"). The number

of things the United States finds "unacceptable" is equaled only by the number

of things it "will not tolerate." And that is to say nothing of the multitude of "red

lines" and "lines in the sand" that U.S. officials draw on a regular basis.

Here are some of the numerous things that have recently been asserted to be

"unacceptable" and "intolerable" to the United States:

A nuclear-armed Iran. "Unacceptable to the United States." (Hillary Clinton)

"We're not going to tolerate a nuclear weapon in the hands of [Iran]."

(President Obama) A nuclear-armed North Korea. "We will not tolerate it. We will not settle for

anything less than the complete, verifiable, and irreversible elimination of

North Korea's nuclear weapons program." (George W. Bush) A decade later?

"The rhetoric that we're hearing from North Korea issimply unacceptable." A

nuclear North Korea "will not be accepted." (John Kerry)

Bad behavior by Pakistan. Pakistani safe havens for the Haqqani Network?

"That'sunacceptable." (Leon Panetta) Also, corruption in Pakistan: "We willnot

toleratecorruption." (Former State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley)

Eritrean meddling in Somalia. "It is unacceptable, and we willnot tolerate it."

(Susan Rice)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavellihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavellihttp://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/clinton_remarks_aipachttp://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/clinton_remarks_aipachttp://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/clinton_remarks_aipachttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/19/remarks-president-campaign-eventhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/19/remarks-president-campaign-eventhttp://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PPP-2003-book1/html/PPP-2003-book1-doc-pg531-2.htmhttp://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PPP-2003-book1/html/PPP-2003-book1-doc-pg531-2.htmhttp://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57579249/kerry-a-nuclear-armed-north-korea-is-unacceptable/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57579249/kerry-a-nuclear-armed-north-korea-is-unacceptable/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57579249/kerry-a-nuclear-armed-north-korea-is-unacceptable/http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/international/nuclear-north-korea-unacceptable-says-john-kerry-1-2893282http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/international/nuclear-north-korea-unacceptable-says-john-kerry-1-2893282http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/international/nuclear-north-korea-unacceptable-says-john-kerry-1-2893282http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/pakistan-s-use-as-haven-after-afghan-attacks-unacceptable-panetta-says.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/pakistan-s-use-as-haven-after-afghan-attacks-unacceptable-panetta-says.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/pakistan-s-use-as-haven-after-afghan-attacks-unacceptable-panetta-says.htmlhttp://www.deccanherald.com/content/90102/Fhttp://www.deccanherald.com/content/90102/Fhttp://www.deccanherald.com/content/90102/Fhttp://www.deccanherald.com/content/90102/Fhttp://www.asmarino.com/news/265-uss-un-envoy-warns-eritrea-over-somalia-rebels-2http://www.asmarino.com/news/265-uss-un-envoy-warns-eritrea-over-somalia-rebels-2http://www.asmarino.com/news/265-uss-un-envoy-warns-eritrea-over-somalia-rebels-2http://www.asmarino.com/news/265-uss-un-envoy-warns-eritrea-over-somalia-rebels-2http://www.deccanherald.com/content/90102/Fhttp://www.deccanherald.com/content/90102/Fhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/pakistan-s-use-as-haven-after-afghan-attacks-unacceptable-panetta-says.htmlhttp://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/international/nuclear-north-korea-unacceptable-says-john-kerry-1-2893282http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57579249/kerry-a-nuclear-armed-north-korea-is-unacceptable/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PPP-2003-book1/html/PPP-2003-book1-doc-pg531-2.htmhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/19/remarks-president-campaign-eventhttp://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/clinton_remarks_aipachttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli


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Russia's 2008 invasion of Georgia. "Unacceptable in the 21st century."

(George W. Bush)

Libyan attacks on civilians."Completely unacceptable." (Hillary Clinton)

Chinese unfair trade practices. "Unacceptable." (Former CommerceSecretary John Bryson)

The U.N. Security Council, which, due to a dispute between the United States

and Russia over the wording of a resolution condemning terrorist attacks in

Damascus, ended up passing nothing at all. "It is unacceptableto the United

States that the U.N. Security Council not...express its outrage at the heinous,

sustained attacks on innocent civilians that the Syrian regime continues to

launch." (Eric Pelton, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations) Aggression across borders in the Middle East. We "will not tolerate" it.

(President Obama)

The use of chemical weapons by Syria.Unacceptable. Also,intolerable. Also,

it would cross a red line, at least if "a whole bunch" of chemical weapons

were used or transferred. (President Obama) A "clear red line." (Joe Biden)

Also, this isnot a bluff.

Uh-huh.

That's just a partial list. Believe me, we find plenty of other things "unacceptable"

as well.

There are two problems with this kind of rhetoric.

First, as everyone and their cousins have been lately observing, it's not at all

clear how U.S. interests are advanced by declaring behavior to be

"unacceptable" when we have no intention of doing anything about it. (There

are notable exceptions -- ask Muammar Qaddafi -- but in general, most

activities condemned by the United States as unacceptable continue to this

day, or, to the extent that they have stopped, they stopped with no credit due
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ashingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-issues-syria-red-line-warning-on-chemical-weapons/2012/08/20/ba5d26ec-eaf7-11e1-b811-09036bcb182b_story.htmlhttp://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/25/opinion/la-ed-syria-chemical-weapons-20130425http://www.haaretz.com/news/obama-visits-israel/full-text-of-obama-s-speech-in-jerusalem-so-long-as-there-is-a-united-states-of-america-ah-tem-lo-lah-vahd-1.511078http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/04/23/press-briefing-press-secretary-jay-carney-4232013http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/world/middleeast/20prexy-text.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0http://usun.state.gov/briefing/statements/205095.htmhttp://www.tradereform.org/2011/12/wtd-trade-alert-121511-new-commerce-chief-warns-us-will-not-tolerate-chinese-unfair-trade/http://www.voanews.com/content/clinton-libyan-bloodshed-completely-unacceptable-116686269/135435.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/11/us.georgia/


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to us.) Iran routinelykicks sandon U.S. red lines, as does North Korea. Then, of

course, there are all those "red lines" with Syria.

If we aren't willing to take decisive action to stop the Syrian government's

appalling activities, what can it possibly mean to thump our chests and claim tohave a red line? "Men," wrote Machiavelli, "must either be caressed or

annihilated."Teddy Rooseveltproffered similar advice: "Speak softly and carry a

big stick." We speak loudly, and though we undeniably carry a big stick, we

mostly seem to flail about with it at random.

This isn't an argument for using military force in Syria, or Iran, or anywhere else --

maybe the use of force is justified and useful and maybe it's not. But if we in fact

intend to accept the "unacceptable" and tolerate the "intolerable," we would bewise to develop a different and more nuanced vocabulary.

There's a second and less frequently noted problem with our absolutist rhetoric.

It's just obnoxious -- and its sheer obnoxiousness makes it dangerous. The rhetoric

of "unacceptable" and "intolerable" risks generating and reinforcing the very

bad behavior we're trying to stop -- not just because each empty threat further

reduces our credibility, but because our general stance toward the world has

become so hectoring and schoolmarmish.

In general, U.S. diplomats treat foreign states and leaders like badly behaved

toddlers. True, they often deserve it -- but as Machiavelli would surely have

observed, that's not the point. The point is to advance our interests, defuse

potentially dangerous conflicts, and dissuade others from engaging in

brinksmanship. By using "my way or the highway" language, we frequently make

things worse, by eliminating the possibility offace-savingcompromise.

This is fine if we're not interested in compromise, of course: If our goal is to force

our adversaries into corners and then crush them, we should hector and insult to

our hearts' content. But if we're actually trying to modify the behavior of foreign

states, we might consider being a little more...diplomatic.
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Traditional realist theories of international relations posit that states are self-

interested rational actors. But "states" are governed by human beings (even

vicious dictators are human). And these individuals, like all individuals, are

products of their cultures, and influenced as much by ego and the expectationsof those who surround them as by strictly rational cost-benefit calculations. A

state can't feel insulted or humiliated, but an individual certainly can -- and at

the end of the day, it's individuals, not abstractions, who determine Iranian

nuclear policy and Syrian military strategy.

Summarizing recent research on negotiations and conflict resolution,

psychologists Michele Gelfand, Ashley Fulmer, and Laura Severance observe

that, "not surprisingly, negative emotions have generally been shown to hindernegotiations, [generating] more critical reactions and less compliance." As they

suggest, this is something most of us intuitively understand (though we may find it

difficult to act on). From couples counseling to corporate negotiations, it's

something every good mediator knows: Compromise is far more likely when

negotiators -- even those with profound disagreements over values -- treat each

other with at least surface respect.

Apparently, senior U.S. diplomats neither read Machiavelli nor study negotiationtheory (although there are plenty of excellent resourcesavailable should they

feel inclined to remedy this lack). If they did, they might be a little less prone to

declaring the behavior of foreign states "unacceptable" and "intolerable." For

once senior U.S. diplomats publicly declare something "unacceptable" or

"intolerable," how can any foreign leader back down without humiliation?

In the United States -- which is about as far from an honor culture as it is possible

to get -- multiple about-faces are an accepted part of politics. This is far less true

in manyAsian,South Asian, andMiddle Easterncontexts, in which "loss of face"

may be considered far more devastating than loss of allies, loss of economic

benefits, or even loss of life. Nonetheless, we continue to use rhetoric that backs
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our interlocutors into corners, instead of leaving open face-saving routes to

compromise.

To be fair, this failing is not unique to U.S. diplomats. The Russians, for instance,

seem similarly prone to declaring everything they don't like "unacceptable." Andin the United States, it's a failing that afflicts Democratic and Republican

administrations alike. Almost a decade ago, Fred Kaplan penned a devastating

critiqueof the Bush administration's North Korea policy, which was, he argued,

characterized by "a pattern of wishful thinking, blinding moral outrage, willful

ignorance of foreign cultures, a naive faith in American triumphalism [and] a

contempt for the messy compromises of diplomacy." Shrill American rhetoric

continued even as crossed "red lines" were ignored and multiple opportunitiesfor real diplomatic progress were overlooked. If this sounds familiar, it should;

we're currently locked into similar destructive patterns with Iran, North Korea,

and Syria.

This is not an argument for pussyfooting around. "Wisdom," observed Machiavelli,

"consists of knowing how to distinguish the nature of trouble, and in choosing the

lesser evil." There are plenty of acts that deserve harsh condemnation and may

ultimately require a coercive response. Sometimes, conflicts are too intractableto be peacefully resolved, even by the most skillful and subtle diplomatic

negotiations. Syria may well be a case in point. But the fact that some conflicts

are intractable is no justification for diplomatic stupidity in all the rest.

Where's Machiavelli when you need him?

Rosa Brooks is a law professor at Georgetown University and a Schwartz senior fellow at the New

America Foundation. She served as a counselor to the U.S. defense undersecretary for policy from 2009

to 2011 and previously served as a senior advisor at the U.S. State Department. Herweekly co lumn

runs every Wednesday and is accompanied by a blog,By Other Means.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0405.kaplan.htmlhttp://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0405.kaplan.htmlhttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/category/section/by_other_meanshttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/category/section/by_other_meanshttp://www.foreignpolicy.com/category/section/by_other_meanshttp://byothermeans.foreignpolicy.com/http://byothermeans.foreignpolicy.com/http://byothermeans.foreignpolicy.com/http://byothermeans.foreignpolicy.com/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/category/section/by_other_meanshttp://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0405.kaplan.html

Documents

Would Machiavelli Have Drawn a Red Line