As of this write-up, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif had gone on a trip to Saudi Arabia. Based on this event, a varied number of geopolitical happenstances could be discerned with the potential to cause some major and/or minor chance situations to affect the heart of the dispute in Iran’s nuclear program as Israel configures ways to tackle that scenario to its advantage.
In these days of rapid communication being of vital importance for human consumption and decision-making, not to speak of statesmanship and a just world order (however it is interpreted, or whatever it means), if only the great powers bring themselves up to do so. That the great powers know that, in order to be anointed with the title of “great” and act likewise on the world stage, they need to be seen by, if not also be felt, or touched by at least subtle demonstrations of at least appropriate deference from the appropriate quarters.
And then, one can discern from a TV news viewing public tell the imagined big shot and/or hierarchy of position vis-à-vis each other, or in the gestures of their host officials, and other propaganda tools of global diplomacy/statecraft. The famed Florentine, Niccolo Machiavelli, diplomat and author, had these thoughts for a politician to adhere to:
- “The ends justify the means.”
- “It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”
Touché! It would not be a bad idea to check on modern-day diplomats/statespersons to get a reality check of their modus operandi every now and then.
The writer is an MALD (Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy) and PhD (Boston University)
