Redefining shuttle diplomacy
EmailSenior national security correspondent Jonathan Karl blogs: Condoleezza Rice is about to hit the road, but the days of "shuttle diplomacy" in the Middle East are over. Barry Schweid has been the AP’s man at the State Department since before a cub ABC News reporter named Ted Koppel covered the beat. He was there for the heyday of shuttle diplomacy with Henry Kissinger, James Baker and, more recently, Warren Christopher. Secretary of State Christopher seemed to spend almost as much time in Damascus as he did in Washington. "Christopher went there 25 times," Schweid says. "And I was on 24 of the trips." A lot of diplomacy, an occasional cease fire, but no lasting peace. (Left: Barry Schweid -3rd from left- interviews Rice in 2005.) Today, nearly 30 years after Kissinger left office, Condoleezza Rice stepped into the State Department briefing room to personally announce her trip to the Middle East and, more importantly, to send a signal: She is on the sidelines no more. Almost from the start of the crisis in Lebanon 10 days ago, Rice has been hammered by critics who have accused her of fiddling while Lebanon burned. Comparisons have been made to previous to the shuttle diplomacy of Kissinger, Baker and Christopher. Asked about this today, Rice said, "I could have gotten on a plane and rushed over and started shuttling and it wouldn’t have been clear what I was shuttling to do." (Right: Christopher meets with Syrian President Hafez Assad, left, in Damascus, in 1995.)
Now she’s jumping in, but she’s made it clear, she’s looking for something more than a ceasefire. Like Israel, the United States wants to see the elimination of Hezbollah as a military force. "We’re pushing forward to the new Middle East not going back to the old one," she said. That means that while she may try to work out international agreements on humanitarian aid for Lebanon and, perhaps, on an international force to disarm Hezbollah, she is not hitting road looking to broker a peace deal between Hezbollah and Israel. After all, the United States won’t even talk to Hezbollah and, on this issue, won’t talk to Hezbollah’s sponsors in Syria or Iran either. So, don’t expect to see Condoleezza Rice on the road to Damascus.
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Hezbollah is an Arabic, Shiite organization that arose after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The Hezbollah has often been accused of terrorism and radicalism. But in that part of the Earth, every entity has been accused of terrorism and radicalism. Almost all of them live up to it.
Hezbollah appears to be a nation. It is a tightly-knit group of people which share a common culture or ideology.
Hezbollah is not a State, (1) that is to say a self-governing political entity. Its hierarchy and self-determination is not clear. (2) It has no space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries. In fact the headquarters of Hezbollah may not be in Lebanon at all. (3) Hezbollah does not have people who live in any particular country on an ongoing basis, nor does it make the claim. (4) Hezbollah does not have an economic activity or an organized economy. A country would regulate foreign and domestic trade and most likely issue money.
Hezbollah is not a nation-state, as it does not have the same borders as a State, that is to say that Hezbollah is not confined within the boundaries of Lebanon.
No nation could ever become a nation-state if outside forces (1) prohibit it from achieving self-governance, (2) prohibit it from occupying space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries, or forcing it to move its headquarters out of the space or territory of its choice, (3) make it impossible for people to live in any particular country on an ongoing basis, or (4) make it impossible to have an economic activity or an organized economy.
If Hezbollah fit the bill for a nation-state, our government would have to deal with it in the same way it deals with Israel.
Outside forces cannot prohibit a tightly-knit group of people from sharing a common culture or ideology, short of total analyzation. If Israel and G. W. Bush have their way, this may happen.
I wish the U.S. would quit telling people in the Middle East what to think and do. Strangely, the Hezbollah and capitol of the state of Missouri may have a common link. The capitol of the state of Missouri was moved to Marshall, Texas during the Civil War. At the end of the war it moved back to Missouri. I suppose the Hezbollah would be happy to move completely into Lebanon if the war would ever end, but judging from the hell-raising over the last half century or so after the U.S. got involved I do not expect that to happen for at least another 50 years.
Condoleezza Rice, President G. W. Bush’s puppet, refuses to address WHY Hezbollah exist in the first place; the occupation of Lebanon by Israel, prisoners held by Israel, and bombs and missiles dropped on Lebanon by Israel. Change the technology and it might sound like American Revolution.
Posted by: cjd | July 25, 2006, 9:20 am 9:20 am