April 11,
2001
Too Many Cooks in the Foreign Policy Kitchen
By Tom Bevan
One of the problems with foreign policy crises like the one we're
now experiencing with China is that everyone who thinks they are
anyone blurts out advice, condemnation, outrage or approval when
what we really need is silence.
This week, everyone from Kofi Annan to Jesse Jackson is offering
to step in and mediate negotiations between the U.S. and Chinese
governments. Thanks Jesse, but I'd just as soon not see you on
television telling the world Beijing is like Selma, Alabama in
1963 if you don't win the release of the crew.
On the other hand there was the inflammatory rhetoric of Bill
Kristol and Robert Kagan of the Weekly Standard who berated President
Bush for making the episode with China a "profound national
humiliation." In their cock-eyed view, even the slightest
conciliatory gesture toward China - even for the estimable cause
of winning the crew's release - is a crippling, irreversable and
unnecessary blow to U.S. prestige.
The point is that the constant meddling and urgency manufactured
by the media and the American intelligentsia will do little more
than pressure our leaders into unwise decisions. The editors of
The Weekly Standard and The Washington Post - and everyone else
who so recently praised the President for assembling the best,
most experienced foreign policy team ever - should give the President
and his people enough time and space to work the problem.
Is there a point where the crew's captivity becomes problematic?
Of course. Both sides are well aware of the consequences of dragging
this episode out. China must decide how much it is willing to
sacrifice in return for taking a swipe at our new President. And
President Bush must decide when to draw the line between preserving
American prestige and risking American lives. These are not insignificant
questions, and they cannot be answered in a day or even a week,
no matter how much the media wants them to be.
Tom Bevan writes for RealClearPolitics
