The latest book, 'Back Channel', written by US Ambassador William Burns, reveals new contexts of world affairs.
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William Burns joined the US State Department in 1982. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Thoreau Bush, Bill Clinton, the younger Bush, and Barack Obama, he held various positions in the State Department and did diplomacy. Finally, at the beginning of Donald Trump's career in 2014, he said goodbye to the foreign ministry. From issuing visas to people at the consulate, he rose to the position of Deputy Foreign Minister. Along the way he was also ambassador to Jordan and Russia. The nuclear deal with Iran in 2015 was the highlight of his career. Burns' book 'Back Channel' has just been published. New contexts of world events are unfolding from it.
After World War II, powerful nations around the world were dividing the world and pursuing their own interests. The world was divided into predominantly communist and capitalist-democratic. We know that the newly started conflict after the fierce struggle of the war started with the cold, that period is called the Cold War. William Burns' career began in Reagan's time when the Cold War was coming to an end.
That was not the beginning of China's economic progress. Russia's economy was declining, and so were the United States and Europe. In this situation, the US policy was to suppress Russia, to divide Russia and China. The United States was aggressive in dealing with the world, believing that we were the only strong people in the world.
Burns got more in touch with Russia. The collapse of the Soviet system was due to the collapse of the economy, the lack of democracy, and internal strife. The constituent countries were liberated and there was some chaos in Russia. Gorbachev was the leader who gave impetus to that system. The already disintegrating Union and the subsequent disintegration of Russia made matters worse. Russia hurt. Gorbachev was succeeded by Yeltsin for some time, and then Putin became the head of Russia, leaving Yeltsin aside. Burns was an active diplomat from Gorbachev to Putin.
Burns met Putin for the first time to present his credentials as an ambassador. Burns waited for Putin in a hall, hundreds of feet long, with a sky-high ceiling, huge gates adorning the fort, and many more. Putin has shown that we too are powerful and great. Putin came knocking on the huge door and waiting for a long time. How big Russia is was being shown through its furniture, chandeliers, etc.
Putin confronted us with a gesture and a gesture that your treatment of our magnificent Russia was not right. Before taking the documents, he said that the United States should learn to think of others, treat Russia well, otherwise the United States has nothing to do with it. Burns has had several meetings with Putin since then. Every time he was aggressive, his legs were spread, sometimes he was broken and sometimes he was talking nonsense. Russia's hurt was always evident in their behavior.
Burns suggested to the then president that he understand the situation in Russia and stop dealing aggressively with Russia from time to time. Reagan, Bush, Bush, Clinton, etc., took Burns' observations away. Obama had originally turned his attention away from Russia and China. As a result, relations between Russia and the United States continued to deteriorate. The United States has repeatedly called on the breakaway nations to join NATO. Burns had advised, don't do that, don't hurt Russia more, align with Russia. Burns' advice was followed by Germany, not the United States.
The world changed in the twenty-first century. Technology has taken over the world. The idea was to conquer countries by capturing their markets, not by armies and wars. This pot was taken by China. But the twist of America is that America still doesn't understand that flow. Obama was pursuing a policy of learning to live with the world in a sensible way, abandoning the politics of marking rival countries. He may have learned that lesson from Angela Merkel. Obama spent hours talking to Merkel on the phone during her presidency, seeking advice from her.
Obama is stuck in Syria and Afghanistan. Instead of using the army, they continued to use drones to fight terrorists in Syria. But they neglected to take action against Assad. They forgot the reality on the ground in Syria and kept negotiating. When Assad used poison gas to kill innocent people, instead of knocking Assad out, he continued to pursue diplomacy with Russia. They fell into the mud of Afghanistan. They did not withdraw all American troops, nor did they try to strengthen the Afghan people and their institutions.
Two big things happened in Barack Obama's career. One is the demise of Osama bin Laden. The move did not involve diplomacy, confidence in Pakistan, talks with Russia, or Saudi aid. Gathering credible information, taking risks, they ended up killing Osama. Osama is over, but Obama cannot be blamed for not ending Islamic terrorism.
Obama's other major achievement is his nuclear deal with Iran. The United States, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and others have been pushing for an end to Iran's nuclear program, in exchange for lifting economic sanctions on Iran. But the Iranian government was extremist. Was not pursuing diplomacy. Leaders of Iran's internal political groups, such as Sarvesarva Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, became adeltu. In this situation the Sultan of Oman took the lead and William Burns brokered the treaty.
Burns was preparing the background for the eight-month deal. The story of this cycle is written by Burns like a thriller. The initiative was taken by a business friend of the Sultan of Oman. Salman his name. He didn't know how trustworthy he was, whether he was really trying to make a deal or to whitewash himself. I didn't even know why the Sultan of Oman was taking the initiative. There was also the issue of whether he was fighting to defeat the other Arab countries in the Gulf. The Sultan contacted Burns by a private phone and from there a series of incidents began.
Burns traveling on a plane with no traces. He was meeting with Iranian diplomats in a secret location near a military airport in Muscat. The Iranian diplomacy was constantly changing, with each group playing a different role each time. Meetings were held for hours, day and night. There was a lot of arguing in the meeting, fists on the tables. People leave the meeting in anger, then cool down and meet again. Iran's anger against America, America's anger against Iran was constantly erupting. Kilograms of paper and reports were under discussion. A few days going by. Stop the discussion. People on both sides were going to their respective countries. Later gathered in Muscat.
Burns was accompanied by a team of eight to ten people. There was also a junior diplomat named Puneet Talwar. The visit of these people was not mentioned anywhere. Their tickets were secretly issued under different names. With the exception of President Obama, Secretary of State Kerry, and a couple of others, no one in the United States was aware of the effort. Obama, however, was persistently pursuing, encouraging.
In the end, Iranian leaders felt that a deal was needed to save the country. The deal was done. The agreement was signed by the United States, Germany, the UK, France, Russia, etc., but no one knew until Burns and his team that the agreement was fully prepared. One of the two in the paper had a crunch. Both of them had indicated that some efforts were being made. But those journalists were kept in the dark by Burns and Obama. So the deal went through.
The best lesson on what diplomacy is can be found in the Iran Agreement. Burns and his team had to study the contract for eight to ten months, putting aside all other work. It includes a comprehensive study of Iran and the Gulf countries. Persian and Arabic also had to be studied. People were separated from their families while negotiating. The people in the house were worried about where their father would go and what he would do. I also felt that there was some confusion. Docfod for hours in a closed room in Muscat and could not move an inch. Still, I used to go for a walk on the beach in the evening and bring up the subject again. Sometimes tweaks, sometimes blows, sometimes jokes. But don’t leave the subject, don’t get frustrated.
The agreement was made, the credit went to the heads of those countries. The diplomats in their respective places became engrossed in further activities. Burns says in his book that diplomacy has come to an end since the beginning of Trump's career. That's natural. Because in a book written by Trump on Trump, Bob Woodward says that Trump doesn't read anything, doesn't listen to anyone, doesn't read the accounts created by various accounts, even when watching Fox TV programs on TV, that's what Trump's foreign policy suggests. That policy was also announced on Twitter.
These changed winds are suggested in his book, sometimes explicitly, sometimes in the 'Between the Lines' method. The reader realizes that 'even though this world is ours, we do not know what is happening in this world'.
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