by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
Former U.S. diplomat John Brady Kiesling, who resigned in 2003 to protest the invasion of Iraq, spoke to students Tuesday about foreign relations.
"There are very few diplomats who can speak candidly about what's going on in the world," he said.
Student Hung Truong said the best part of the lecture was having a diplomat speak as an
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individual and not as the country he represented.
"It was interesting to hear his opinions," Truong said.
Kiesling is on tour promoting his book U.S. Diplomacy for a Crowded Planet.
He said students need to be aware of foreign policy, because it affects their lives.
"Students have to study how to distinguish between politicians who promote the welfare of the American people and politicians who use foreign policy as a tool for domestic politics," he said.
He said the purpose of the book is to encourage a new generation of smart idealists to get involved with the foreign service to protect their country and the world.
"The job of a diplomat is to build relationships that will allow the U.S. to get things done around the world," he said.
Kiesling said the United States is seen as a threat by most countries. Diplomacy is about dealing with those countries, he said.
"It's dangerous to engage with a superpower such as the U.S. government, because we will do things for our own self-interest," he said. "Sometimes it's better to leave a conflict, let it be and manage it so no one gets killed."
Melissa Bokovoy, director of international studies, said Kiesling clearly explained a diplomat's job.
"It's not in the realm of the abstract but in the realm of the real," she said.
Kiesling said governments have foreign enemies to increase domestic welfare. That is part of the reason why there is international anti-Americanism, he said.
"Nationalism is a very effective way of mobilizing people all around the world," he said.
He said the U.S. government portrayed Saddam Hussein as evil when it suited the administration's interest.
"There are no evil madmen," he said. "They are just foreigners
doing what their American counterparts are doing - trying to stay popular, in power and legitimate."
Kiesling said the United States is wasting money on the Iraq war, because it is having a negative impact on the region, swelling the national deficit and taking funds that could be used for domestic use, such as health care.
"It is very difficult intellectually to make the case why we spend as much money as we do," he said.
He said by refusing to use diplomacy with Iran, the United States is making the situation worse.
"If you don't know anything about Iran domestic policy, you won't know what will cause them to become a nuclear state or will cause them not to
become one," he said.
Kiesling said the United States needs to disarm before other countries stop their nuclear programs.
"The only way nuclear disarmament is possible is if it's a universal goal, not simply a U.S. demand that our enemies not have nuclear weapons," he said. "It's the moral and practical response to ignore it as hypocritical from their
perspective."
Kiesling said the United Nations is not effective because Russia, France, the United Kingdom, China and the United States do not give it the legitimacy or power it needs to function properly.
"Each of the great superpowers had its own selfish reasons, and often, those reasons are very shortsighted," he said.
