“Remember, remember the 5th of November the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.” Those are the lines that start one of my favorite movies: V for Vendetta. The movie depicts the steps that lead to an all out revolution against a fascist government in a fictional Great Britain of the future. The movie certainly seems to be inspired by the book 1984 written by George Orwell. A book that I would strongly recommend everyone reads in order to get a better idea of what it might be like to live under a government that controls absolutely everything about you. I am sure that there are those in Egypt who can very well connect to the live of Winston Smith, the protagonist of 1984. Constantly afraid of discovery by the secret police, he ultimately shares the fate that many of the enemies of the Egyptian state suffered under Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak.
To chime in with my piece from two weeks ago entitled “Negotiating with the Bad Guys,” I will briefly discuss an article written for The Guardian which discusses why it is not bad to talk to people like Gaddafi, and then I will move on to give my two cents on how states should engage diplomatically with Syria. As always check the end of the post for interesting links.
Why negotiating with rogue states is important
In his article “There’s no shame in talking to people like Gaddafi,” John Deverell makes the argument that direct negotiations and relationship building between government officials is a useful way in which to guarantee world peace. His title specifically refers to the success of convincing the Libyan government to abandon its nuclear arms program. Yet, he also gives some great examples like the Good Friday Agreement reached between the IRA and the British Government under the guidance of Senator George Mitchell in 1998, or the recent exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hamas for the Israel soldier Gilad Shalit. All three of these examples could not have happened without serious involvement of government officials.
I seriously support John Deverell in his argument. Negotiations should be the first and hopefully last resort in avoiding potential conflict. Let’s go ahead and apply his thinking to another potential conflict. Instead of taunting each other, there should be closer negotiations between Israel and Iran led by an easily deniable third party. This could be done by an NGO that is willing and able to go back and forth between the two states. This way, basic terms for a peaceful resolve could be laid out to each other and talks could move to the infamous stage of “talks about talks.” Possibly a conflict could be averted and Israel would not have to hold drills for missile attacks like the ones that are shown in the link at the bottom of the post.
Why recognize an illegitimate regime
Robert Ford, the Ambassador of the United States to the Syrian Republic, was pulled out of Syria after he was accused by local media (widely controlled by the Syrian state) of aiding Syrian rebels. These accusations were followed with threats to his life online and on the walls of his very home.
The posting of a diplomat to a state implies that there is at least some kind of recognition by the sending state for the receiving state. After what the Syrian government has done to its people during the past months in the uprisings that have been taking place, the State of Syria does not deserve any recognition by any other state. Therefore, I believe that the United States should not only pull out its ambassador to Syria, but it also pull out all remaining personnel stationed in the country. By taking away recognition to the regime of Al-Assad, his position as the legitimate leader will be challenged and those remaining under the impression that he should remain in power will be weakened in resolve. The United States should herald in a movement that could set a beginning to the end of recognition of the illegitimate regime of Bashar Al-Assad.
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