What Trump Does Is Anything But Diplomacy
The media must stop calling his tantrums "negotiations" — they don't even pass the smell test.
Shouting at a TV screen isn’t part of my normal routine, yet I find myself doing just that a bit too often these days. Every time a news reporter or a talking head spoke about Trump’s “diplomatic meetings” or “negotiations” at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, I yelled: “This is not diplomacy!”
It’s not just TV. Earlier this week, the New York Times declared in the headline of an opinion piece by former Secretary of State John Kerry that “Trump struck a Greenland deal.” Numerous other media outlets claimed that Trump had “negotiated” a framework for such a deal. Were they just being sloppy with language or confused about what “negotiation” and “diplomacy” mean?
If they aren’t clear about what a diplomatic negotiation is, they should read my book “Diplomatic Tradecraft” — particularly the last chapter, which I wrote with Thomas Pickering, a Foreign Service legend and seven-time ambassador.
We participate in various forms of negotiation throughout our lives. Companies negotiate business deals, trade unions and executives negotiate labor contracts, car-buyers negotiate with dealers, children negotiate curfew times or vacation destinations with their parents — and negotiation is, of course, a regular fixture of marriage.
However, if the purpose of those negotiations is to reach agreement with the other side, the purpose of diplomacy is to achieve an end state required by a government’s overall strategy that advances its interests. Success depends in large part on diplomats’ ability to reshape the other side’s perceptions and calculations, so that it does what one wants it to do, because it comes to see that doing so is in its own best interest.
A truly successful diplomatic negotiation is one that not only resolves an immediate problem, but ensures that the state of relations with the other side will serve one’s interests in the long run.
By that standard, there is no world — at least not one in which most people would want to live — where Trump’s international dealings even remotely resemble diplomacy. The truth is, no Greenland “deal” was reached in Davos. There was no “negotiation” — in fact, neither Greenland nor Denmark participated in any talks about the island’s future and made clear they knew nothing about a “framework.”
The only thing that actually happened was a meeting between Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, during which Rutte outlined what the United States is already permitted to do in Greenland under a decades-old agreement. He also expressed confidence that, if Washington wished to pursue additional activities not explicitly covered by that agreement, Greenland and Denmark would likely be open to discussing them. So there is no need for the United States to “own” Greenland.
It’s clear by now that Trump and his administration don’t really understand how international diplomacy works. Yes, some observers have suggested that the administration is inventing a new way to do diplomacy, but that’s nonsense. Issuing maximalist demands and bullying the other side to accept them under threats and intimidation is anything but diplomacy.
When I was a journalist, I used to yawn when a leader I was covering used clichés like “Cooperation is the best answer to global challenges.” I’d roll my eyes and think, “What else is new? Tell me something new or original.” But when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen uttered these exact words during a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, I realized that what we once took for granted now needs to be explained and defended.
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Nicholas Kralev is the founder and executive director of the Washington International Diplomatic Academy, and a former Financial Times and Washington Times correspondent. His books include “Diplomatic Tradecraft,” “America’s Other Army” and “Diplomats in the Trenches.”
Thank you for being a voice of reason and knowledge…
Thank you for this post. I second your previous comment/post about having a 'Doctrine of Diplomacy.' The Military does have a Doctrine of methods, reasons, drills, plans and actions to achieve its goals in good order. They have OPORD (Operational Order), MDMP (Military Decision Making Process), and other Doctrine Books to ensure a measured but reasoned approach to Military Affairs. I have ideas on this, but I don't really have answers. Nonetheless, it seems that almost all Presidents suffer, at least at first, from misunderstandings with their State Department. This President really doesn't understand anything about Diplomacy. Decades of knowledge and experience are completely ignored by him. I hate cliches, but 'he doesn't have a clue.' Nonetheless, I admire your efforts to 'keep on keeping on.' You are holding the line for Diplomatic efforts, and I really appreciate it.