The Urgency of Diplomacy | Jeffrey Sachs Essay March 21, 2024

Read by Jeffrey D. Sachs Essay available on Common Dreams: There has been a complete collapse of diplomacy between the US and Russia, and a near-total collapse between the US and China. Europe, which has made itself far too dependent on the US for its own good, simply follows the Washington line. The absence of diplomacy creates a dynamic of escalation that can lead to nuclear war. The highest priority for global peace is to re-establish US diplomacy with Russia and China. ... Diplomacy is vital because most conflicts are what game theorists call “strategic dilemmas.” A strategic dilemma is a situation in which peace (or, more generally, cooperation) is better for both adversaries but in which each side has the incentive to cheat on a peace agreement in order to take advantage of the foe. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, for example, peace was better for both the US and the Soviet Union than nuclear war, but each side feared that if it agreed to a peaceful outcome, the other side would cheat – for example through a nuclear first-strike. ... In the immortal words and wisdom of JFK in hisInaugural Address, “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.” Read the full essay here (or keep listening):