Wise reflections of a veteran US Diplomat who was a good friend of UNICEF
This podcast of his interview is worth listening to.
Ambassador Thomas Pickering reflects on how a skillful diplomat can turn challenges into opportunities by focusing on areas of common ground and shared interests even with one's adversaries and rivals. He speaks about how he was able to "defang" the animosity of ambassadors of countries that were not friendly to the US by focusing on some shared interests.
Many arrogant ambassadors of P-5 countries only hobnob with their counterparts from other big powers. But truly successful and effective ambassadors like Pickering also made friends with ambassadors of lesser powers who were respected by their fellow ambassadors for their intellect, creativity and problem-solving skills.
The podcast interview is focused on the Security Council, but we know that Ambassador Pickering also maintained an interest in the work of the rest of the UN, including Funds and Programmes.
I recall when Thomas Pickering was US Ambassador to El Salvador, Jim Grant reached out to him to help persuade some powerful Salvadoran army generals to agree to the UNICEF-proposed "Days of Tranquility" to immunize children. Initially, the Army was opposed to any ceasefire saying the FMLN guerillas will simply take advantage of it. Even President Jose Napoleon Duarte could not readily persuade the Army Generals. But our ever-resourceful and "can do" leader Jim Grant then reached out to Ambassador Pickering for advice and help. Because the Salvadoran army was so dependent on US military support, it listened to the US ambassador more than to their own President in those days. So, Thomas Pickering was a key behind-the-scene player to facilitate the Days of Tranquility.
Agop Kayayan will probably remember this story, which is chronicled in Tarzie Vittachi's wonderful booklet: "Between the Guns: Children as a Zone of Peace".
Legendary US Diplomat Thomas Pickering Explains How the US Can Get Its Multilateral Groove Back
ByMark Leon Goldberg
undispatch.com
1 min
View Original
Ambassador Thomas Pickering is a legendary retired US foreign service officer. He had a four decade career in diplomacy, including stints as United States ambassador to Russia, India, Israel, Nigeria, and El Salvador, among other key postings.
In 1989, President George H.W. Bush appointed him United States Ambassador to the United Nations where he played a critical role in marshaling broad international support against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
The diplomacy that accompanied the international effort to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait in the early 1990s is considered to be a high water mark for US multilateral engagement.This is why I was curious to learn from Ambassador Pickering about what opportunities may exist for the incoming Biden administration to re-establish US global leadership and multilateral engagement?
We kick off discussing the Trump administration’s approach to multilateralism before having a broader conversation about the changing nature of the UN and ways the Biden administration can productively work with with allies and adversaries to advance American interests and the global good.
If you have 20 minutes and want to learn from one of America’s most decorated diplomats, have a listen.
From Agop Kayayan
ReplyDeleteAmbassador Pickering helped us at a crucial moment. When the Army was not responding, positively or negatively, about one of the days of tranquility, he intervened very effectively. I will speak about this in the documentary on the Days of Tranquility. It is something we do not get trained for. I could not ask the ambassador to call the chief of staff of the Army. It would have been a serious mistake on my part. However, I repeated many times, maybe four times, about all the benefits of immunization, that he turned to me and kindly said “Would you like me to speak with the general”. I joined my two hands and said “ Please, Ambassador”. He then added “Call him tomorrow morning, he will most probably receive you”. I did not even need to call the general..he called me!
Best regards, Agop Kayayan
I met Ambassador Pickering several times. I believe the first was his visit to New Delhi. We met again in New York when an issue came up about Israel and Palestine came up - if I recall correctly there was some US upset about UNICEF's decision to use the term 'Occupied Palestinian Territories'. Our most recent meeting was in Santa Fe when he spoke at an event held by the Council on International Relations. I had not known until this exchange between Kul and Agop of his role in Days of Tranquility.
ReplyDeleteHe was and no doubt still is a superb diplomat, good at representing his country, but equally good in seeing the 'big picture' around international issues.