Touching Moments in Diplomacy
Let's stipulate that Hugo Chavez is a petty tyrant, a demagogue, an outspoken anti-Semite and not a friend to America. But hey, who's perfect, right?
He is, however, the elected president of a sovereign state--and we believe in elections, at least as long as they turn out the way we want. So far, while nationalizing our assets, he has not directly attacked us--except for verbally. So the great question dominating the news (On Fox) is this: Did President Obama do a bad thing in shaking Chavez's outstretched hand or should he have turned his back?
Well, if you're at a conference of leaders of our two American continents and part of your goal is to build a bridge to Cuba then going out of your way to diss a Cuban ally doesn't enhance your chances for achieving your goals. But some complain we shouldn't be nice either to Chavez's Venezuela or to Cuba as long as anyone with the name Castro lives. That is a legitimate policy issue. But diplomatic rudeness seldom gains anyone or any nation much.
But yes, I'll admit that sometimes the pictures can be disturbing. I was not thrilled with President George W Bush holding hands and kissing a Saudi Prince--who is not in my view a prince of a fellow. I know W is a baseball guy (Look at his artful dodge of a high inside shoe) and I guess I can live with the handholding, which is generally considered to be getting to first base). The kiss in the lips? Well, that was at least second base. And given what happened to gas prices in the first half of W's last year, I'm thinking he scored. Thank goodness there is no photo of that. Though Miss California seems inarticulately ambivalent on this. For me a kiss is not just a kiss, but a handshake is okay if it doesn't lead to being taken advantage of.
©2009 Jonathan Dobrer
www.Dobrer.org
I agree that Fox (and others) have made too much out of this. After all, what was Obama supposed to do - flip his middle finger at Chavez rather than shake his hand? You can diasgree with someone and, at the same time, still be civil - unless you're on Friendly Fire. I was actually more curious about Chavez's motives - was he trying to compromise Obama?
I know that John Foster Dulles refused to shake the hand of Zhou En-Lai. But that was more or less an anomaly and not the rule. There were several arms control meetings and other summits between the US and USSR during the Cold War - US presidents and Soviet premiers always shook hands. The Soviet Union was by far a more serious enemy than Venezuela is now.
I made a comment several weeks or months back on this site suggesting that some presidents, because of their politics, have more credibility in the foreign policy space than others. Nixon was able to reach out to China whereas I doubt Humphrey or McGovern could have done likewise. Many people are suspicious of Obama, so handshakes with the likes of Hugo Chavez will be viewed by those same people through a prism of suspicion.
Gee, I don't know whether to be more upset about Obama's little bow or wondering if Bush used a little tongue in his greeting.