I'm not surprised at the number of columns written by pundits in the mainstream media which "explain" that President Trump doesn't understand how international diplomacy is supposed to be handled. The main point made is that a president should not just cancel a meeting because the person with whom he is supposed to meet is saying unfavorable things. These pundits are lamenting Trump's cancellation of the meeting with North Korea's Kim Jung Un that Trump announced yesterday. The pundits actually make clear that they are wedded to the failed diplomatic model used by the Obama administration, and they don't understand how a negotiation is properly handled.
Let's start with something simple. A diplomatic negotiation is still a negotiation. Aside from some of the formalities that get added into the mix, diplomacy is nothing more than ordinary negotiation. No matter what these pundits say, there really is no material difference between the two.
Now let's add another basic truth of negotiating deals. If you want to get a better deal, you must demonstrate to the other side that you are prepared to walk away unless you get what you need. If you make clear that your goal is to get a deal rather than to get particular content for that deal, the other side comes to understand that it can get pretty much anything it wants. That was exactly what went wrong with the Iranian nuclear deal that was negotiated by John Kerry for the USA. The mullahs understood that Kerry and his boss Obama had the goal of making a deal rather than a goal of getting a sure method for ending the Iranian nuclear program. As a result, the Iranians got hundreds of billions of dollars of sanctions relief and cash payments in exchange for agreeing to a deal which still gave them a path to nuclear weapons in ten years. It was a disaster for the USA.
In this context, Trump's cancellation of the summit makes perfect sense. For whatever reason, the President apparently decided that Kim Jung Un was testing him by doing one of Kim's crazy moves. Kim first acknowledged that the US/South Korean military exercises were no problem and then a month later made a big stink about them going forward. Kim first met with the South Koreans to establish good will and then cancelled the next meeting due to supposed provocations. Kim requested the summit meeting with the President and then voiced threats that he might cancel the meeting. Trump rejected the games Kim was playing. He called Kim's bluff. By cancelling the meeting, Trump made clear to Kim that the President was very different from Obama; his goal was not to get an agreement, but rather to get a good deal for the USA.
The response from Kim shows that he understands what just happened. There were no angry outbursts. In fact, we may still see a meeting take place sometime soon.
Someone should explain to the pundits that they really don't understand what happened. They won't believe it (since they are all sure that they know everything.)
Let's start with something simple. A diplomatic negotiation is still a negotiation. Aside from some of the formalities that get added into the mix, diplomacy is nothing more than ordinary negotiation. No matter what these pundits say, there really is no material difference between the two.
Now let's add another basic truth of negotiating deals. If you want to get a better deal, you must demonstrate to the other side that you are prepared to walk away unless you get what you need. If you make clear that your goal is to get a deal rather than to get particular content for that deal, the other side comes to understand that it can get pretty much anything it wants. That was exactly what went wrong with the Iranian nuclear deal that was negotiated by John Kerry for the USA. The mullahs understood that Kerry and his boss Obama had the goal of making a deal rather than a goal of getting a sure method for ending the Iranian nuclear program. As a result, the Iranians got hundreds of billions of dollars of sanctions relief and cash payments in exchange for agreeing to a deal which still gave them a path to nuclear weapons in ten years. It was a disaster for the USA.
In this context, Trump's cancellation of the summit makes perfect sense. For whatever reason, the President apparently decided that Kim Jung Un was testing him by doing one of Kim's crazy moves. Kim first acknowledged that the US/South Korean military exercises were no problem and then a month later made a big stink about them going forward. Kim first met with the South Koreans to establish good will and then cancelled the next meeting due to supposed provocations. Kim requested the summit meeting with the President and then voiced threats that he might cancel the meeting. Trump rejected the games Kim was playing. He called Kim's bluff. By cancelling the meeting, Trump made clear to Kim that the President was very different from Obama; his goal was not to get an agreement, but rather to get a good deal for the USA.
The response from Kim shows that he understands what just happened. There were no angry outbursts. In fact, we may still see a meeting take place sometime soon.
Someone should explain to the pundits that they really don't understand what happened. They won't believe it (since they are all sure that they know everything.)
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