PrintDecember 9, 2007
Shuttle diplomacy
In the 1973 Yom KippurWar in the Middle East, Egypt and Syria caught Israel unawares with a surprise attack and almost penetrated its defenses – the defense of the Golan Heights was essentially “to the last man” on the part of the Israelis and even that would not have been enough had the Air Force not come up and taken out the Syrian tanks that had descended into the Jordan Valley. No less a figure than Moshe Dayan, the Minister of Defense, thought that “the Third Temple is falling” meaning that Israel was going to be defeated.
By summoning up a “never say die” resolution and bringing all its leadership capabilities to bear, Israel overcame the crisis and ended up with the upper hand as Ariel Sharon crossed the Suez Canal and isolated the Egyptian Third Army in the Sinai desert. At this point the Russians threatened to intervene and to forestall that, Nixon put the U.S. on a nuclear alert.
What to do next? Although ultimately losing the war, Egypt had made its point and altered the balance of power in the Middle East. Now a settlement was needed. Enter Henry Kissinger. Kissinger had just been appointed Secretary of State (in September 1973) so he entered the Middle East negotiations with the full panoply of his office. Kissinger engaged in hands-on personal “shuttle” diplomacy – shuttling back and forth between the capitals of the principals – until the May 31, 1974 disengagement agreement between Syria and Israel, essentially six months of intense personal activity on his part with both his reputation and that of the U.S. on the line in order to achieve a critical diplomatic objective.
Now we need to achieve a critical diplomatic objective in Iraq – some workable reconciliation between the Shia government and the Sunnis.
Condi?
