THE KOREAN negotiation produced an initial breakthrough agreement.
Asians usually carry on a dialogue through symbolism without having to verbalize. The Asian way is called a Dialogue of Silence.
West diplomats inevitably often strongly articulate their viewpoint. The West way leads often to stalemate, needing a third party arbiter to break the deadlock or resolve the dispute.
This contrast to me explains the initial success of the Korean peninsula dialogue and the apparent lack of progress of the EU trying to convince Trump not to disown the Iran denuclearization accord.
Professor Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS said: “Scholarship in the West often overlooks the personal dimension in international relations.”
How did the Chinese react to the Korean talks? Its Prime Minister travelled to Seoul to congratulate South Korea President Moon Jae-in for breaking the deadlock. Its foreign minister travelled to Pyongyang to tell Kim Jong-un that China supports full denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
On the other hand under the Iran denuclearization deal from which the US has pulled out, Iran said its free to return to the status quo ante i.e. uranium enrichment, rearming its ballistic missiles, resumption of nuclearization program.
The EU dispatched French Prime Minister Macron and German Chancellor Merkel to Washington to convince Trump not to scrap the Iran accord.
Frenchman Macron in Washington used cultural diplomacy – its historic affinity to the US to charm President Trump. German Chancellor Merkel displayed the equally well-known Teutonic efficiency: direct to the point and no kisses and embraces. From the airport, she was whisked to the White house and after quick day visit again brought back to the airport and on to Berlin.
Is the contrast in negotiation partly explained by the fact that Asian civilizations were as old as the Greeks and Romans, and the Maya’s in Yucatan; and Guatamela in Central America? Their ancestors had learned the art of employing “soft power” to maintain stability and diversity within their empires. (Email: angara.ed@gmail.com| Facebook & Twitter: @edangara)/PN
