The Elusive Peace (Routledge Revivals) by William R. Polk

Author:William R. Polk [Polk, William R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415702706
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2014-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

7

American Diplomacy

Throughout its turbulent history, the Middle East has rarely enjoyed what has been euphemistically termed ‘the ancient and comfortable right to be left alone’. The best that can be said is that occasionally one can hear the often strident voices of diplomats above the clamour of battle and the drumming footfall of battle. But in truth it was often difficult to distinguish the one from the other for like the classical herald the diplomat often came first to warn of the arrival of the army unless his conditions were quickly met. For at least the last two millennia, most of the warriors and diplomats have come from abroad and the native peoples are accustomed to the notion that their fates should be decided at distant capitals. The pronouncements of foreign governments, not their own, actually and even rightly determine the future. Indeed, the proper, often the only feasible, role for themselves was to seek out a particular foreigner, win his favour and get him to pronounce on their behalf. In recent years, both Arabs and Israelis have followed these time-worn paths but in new ways. The Israelis have proved most adept at courting Western opinion and obtaining Western aid and alignment but the Arabs have also tried to mobilise the Third World and to play off against one another the two sides of the cold war.

Eagerly, often violently, foreign powers have asserted their presence and sought to play the roles so eagerly assigned them. But the nature and language of diplomacy have evolved even when the issues and geopolitics appear to remain much the same. Russia and America are today, in a sense, still playing the ‘Great Game’ of the nineteenth century – but Russia is the Soviet Union and for the Greek Orthodox Church it has substituted the Communist movement and while America has taken over Britain’s role it is using the tools, goods and persuasions of an industrial society more than armies and agents. Thus, to understand current diplomacy, we must look not only at the men and the events but at the tools and techniques and then attempt to put them into the changing context of the Middle East.

The British Withdrawal

When World War II ended, the Arabs and the Jews were pressing hard to assert the symbols and even the reality of sovereignty. Britain had learned and applied deftly a policy of acquiescence on symbolism – ‘let them have their flags, anthems and statues. We will keep the advisers and the airfields,’ said one experienced practitioner. With grand ceremony, in 1946, the British evacuated Cairo’s commanding citadel and the Kasr el-Nil barracks in the heart of Cairo and similar stations elsewhere to withdraw to less conspicuous bases. For a while, it seemed that Palestine would be the ideal base – indeed that had been a part of the original interest in Palestine – and if not Palestine then Suez. But everywhere they turned, the British found that the easy compromises of the old days were inadequate.

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