Diplomacy means you sometimes have to sup with the devil you know
DIPLOMACY is not about dealing with people you like. It is about dealing with people who are distasteful, often dangerous, and getting them to do what you like. That is why we should welcome President Donald J Trump when he visits the UK this week. To try to get him to do the right thing.
British Prime Minister David Lloyd George negotiated the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the First World War with US President Woodrow Wilson and French President Georges Clemenceau.
When asked how he thought he had done during the negotiations, Lloyd George said: ‘Not badly, considering I was sitting between Jesus Christ and Napoleon.’
The sanctimony of Wilson and the nationalism of Clemenceau did not sit well with him, but he found a way of doing a deal nonetheless.
US presidents have become a lot less pious since those days. Donald Trump is a dangerous man who makes you yearn for the honesty of Richard Nixon, the fidelity of Bill Clinton and the sophisticated intellectualism of George W Bush.
Pick a topic and you can find a reason to despise the man. From his views on immigration to his sexism, his business dealings, his disregard for the truth – and there is plenty more to choose from.
We can embrace the sanctimony of a Woodrow Wilson or the fuming nationalism of a Clemenceau and be outraged – but it will make little difference to him nor address the real challenges.
It is for the US electorate to deal with the character flaws of their president, it is for us to defend ourselves against the policy threats he poses to us. However distasteful, that means trying to talk to him. To do a deal.
He remains the most powerful politician on Earth, who threatens our defence and our trade.
While the United States has a case that it pays more into Nato than anyone else and that other nations, such as Germany, should stump up more to keep their commitments, he seems to threaten the existence of an alliance that has kept the peace in Europe since the Second World War.
But the most immediate threat he poses is the trade war he has already started.
Sanctions against the EU and China have been reciprocated – in the past few days by the Chinese in spades. This might play well in the American Rust Belt, where Trump garnered votes – but it will end up costing jobs and livelihoods there, here and across the world.
That is why we should be glad of the chance to speak to him, to try to influence him and change his tack. It may be a thankless task, but it would be unforgivable not to take it.
FROM a Scottish point of view, First Ministers were happy enough to welcome him when we could get his money to create jobs as a businessman. Why would we refuse to talk to him when he could cost us jobs as US President?
Experience has taught us that, from Trafalgar Square to the Tunnock’s car park, it is easy to whip up a mob of professional protesters staunch in their own virtue. But what difference do they regularly make? None.
Experience has also taught us that this president surfs the tide of vociferous criticism with relish. It doesn’t penetrate, it reinforces. His ego percolates it into greater self-belief.
If one of the many criticisms of Donald Trump is that he is a populist who panders to prejudice rather than lead, then UK leaders should show real leadership.
If, on his visit to Scotland, our own First Minister were to shake his hand on the steps of Bute House and then talk to him about her concerns, I would applaud her. Sometimes, to stand up for your country, you need to suck it up just a little and not care about the next day’s headlines.
That does not mean conceding one point of principle, it means not conceding the chance to protect Scotland’s interests.
And it would be rather strange if the president of the devolved province of Catalonia, a man of extreme xenophobic views, was welcome in Bute House – but the president of the most powerful nation on Earth was not.
We can hold on to our disdain and disapproval if that is more precious to us, but it will do the country no good. Create not one job, nor prevent any from being lost in the current circumstances.
If the principle is that you only speak to people you agree with, that you cannot break bread with those you might hate and who have done you harm, then there would never have been peace in Northern Ireland.
If the Queen and the late Martin McGuinness could shake hands, it is ridiculous to say it is wrong to shake hands with Donald Trump, however ridiculous he is.
We should just be bigger than that, we should be cleverer than that.
In the words of Lloyd George’s old colleague, Winston Churchill, diplomacy is the art of telling people to go hell in such a way as they ask you for directions.