What do these countries, or former countries, have in common?
- USSR
- China
- Vietnam
- Libya
- Cuba
- North Korea
- Iran
They have all been excluded from diplomacy with the US at various times. They form an exclusive and notable group of exclusion. The distrust went back to Jefferson. In the early days the Americans just did not trust diplomacy. But this proved to be a detrimental distrust. In fact they did not send diplomats abroad until the 1890’s[1]. In the 20th Century this was made remarkable by the US Senate’s refusal to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. America’s ‘ability to moralize has been a liability at times in diplomacy. This has been a liability which it has used to its own advantage. It has also been shown to have an unwillingness in recent times to abide by international law.[2] Thus showing that the US wants the world in its own image. Imagine a world without diplomacy and international law? It is not an easy thing to do but we would have to go back many thousands of years to find it.
So let us look at the seven states that the US did not want to recognize in diplomatic ways.
- USSR
After the revolution the US would not recognise the regime. They opened an embassy in Moscow 1933
- China
Non-recognition became a weapon to isolate enemies and diminish their prestige. Nixon visited Beijing in 1972. Normalization started a with Carter in 1979. The Chinese economy has grown rapidly from this point.
- Vietnam
As it was communist the US would not have any diplomatic relations with them. Carter started normalization and then Clinton completed with the lifting of trade embargoes.
- Libya
In US eyes Libya was an adversarial state that would not agree to US conditions. Restoration of diplomatic ties started in 2008 after deals were struck over the Lockerbie Bombing..
- Cuba
Ties were broken off in 1961 this lead to an absence of diplomatic contact until 1977 when President Carter made diplomatic arrangements via the Swiss Embassy in Cuba and in Washington. Cuba is the only state that is subject to the 1917 US trading with the Enemy Act.
- North Korea
The US has never had normal relations with North Korea in diplomatic terms and never signed the ceasefire so is still technically at war. Madeleine Albright visited Pyongyang in 1994. George W. Bush refused any contact preferring to refer to them as part of the ‘Axis of Evil’.
- Iran
Problems between Iran and the US started in 1979 with the Islamic Revolution and the US diplomatic hostages who were held for 444 days. Iran also became a part of George .W.Bush’s ‘Axis of evil’. In 2006 there seemed to be a diplomatic shift by the US. Negotiations were mooted. The nuclear ambitions of Iran and there geopolitical role have caused real policy problems for the US and Europe.
These examples illustrate that the US should engage not seperate or isolate. To reap benefits they need to engage.
