Day: February 20, 2023

Stevenson’s army, February 19 and 20

February 20:

He couldn’t stay away.

– US warns China about aid to Russia.

– FT notes lack of support for Ukraine in global south.

– US avoided UN fight over Israel/Palestine.

February 19:

– FT has two valuable articles. SAIS prof Mary Sarotte on Putin’s distortions of history and report on planned secret US talks with Taiwan [now exposed]

– Lots on Wagner group — from Politico, from WaPo

– CNAS has a new tracker on Russia developments

– AP poll finds reduced GOP support for Ukraine

– NYT notes new military competition in near space.

– WSJ said some DIA knew of UAPs in Trump admin, but didn’t raise alarms.

– Politico on Germany’s “shadow foreign minister”

– Eli Lake defends Iraq war

– Intercept has warnings for whistleblowers

– FWIW, revelations about Fox News.

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).

Tags : , , , , , , , ,

Mea culpa, but not for calling ugly diplomacy ugly

Last Wednesday I published a popular piece on Ugly Diplomacy in the Balkans. The “hook” of the piece was a recent agreement to create liaison positions for Serbian diplomats in the State Department. I was critical of that decision because I assumed that Kosovo diplomats had not yet been offered the same opportunity. I was wrong.

Mea culpa

I have been informed that a Kosovo diplomat has been working in the State Department since early 2022. A second started working there in January 2023. That information is available in tweets from Embassy Pristina that I had missed. I welcome this news and hasten to acknowledge my incorrect assumption.

One of the Kosovars is working in Educational and Cultural Affairs. I haven’t had an answer to my inquiry about the other or the Serbs.

The Secretary of State is tweeting nonsense

None of that changes my view of the the current diplomacy pursued at State vis-a-vis Serbia. The State Department is anteing up goodies for Belgrade well before it has done what we would like on Ukraine and many other issues. I know of no backing for this tweet from Secretary Blinken:

Had a productive conversation with Serbian President @AVucic today at the @MunSecConf. We discussed the importance of normalized relations with Kosovo and I conveyed our appreciation for Serbia’s continued support for Ukraine. We share Serbia’s desire for a future with the EU.

Secretary Blinken and Serbian President Vucic smile for a photo while standing in front of their country flags.

This is nonsense. President Vucic, who has aligned himself increasingly with Moscow and Beijing, so far as I am aware has done little or nothing in the West’s favor on Ukraine, other than vote for a couple of helpuful but toothless UN General Assembly resolutions. He hasn’t done a whole lot on normalization with Kosovo or EU accession either.

The Americans don’t care

But the Americans don’t care. Witness Washington’s full-throated support for Serbia’s Open Balkans initiative and its much-vaunted proposal for an Association of Serb-majority Municipalities inside Kosovo. Many in the region perceive both these propositions as threats to the territorial integrity of neighbors.

Washington support for Belgrade contrasts sharply with the pressure Washington is bringing to bear on our friends in Pristina, who aren’t getting nice photo ops with the Secretary or full-throated praise for their successful anti-corruption efforts or their acceptance of the French-German proposal on normalization as a basis for negotiations.

Ugly is still ugly

So yes, I was wrong in my assumption about Kosovo diplomats inside the State Department. They are already there. But it is still ugly diplomacy when you reward people who refuse to do what you want and pressure your friends. I know it is easier to twist the arm of your friend than your adversary, but it is still ugly.

Tags : , , ,
Tweet