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Originally Posted by Elphaba
Please tell me that you know it is far more complicated than just "picking up the phone." Rhetorical banter has it's place, but it doesn't allow for hurt feelings if the strategy fails.
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I don't know that it is more compicated than that.
Remember how the Cold War ended. Reagan and Gorbachav sat down in a meeting and talked. Prior to that the situation was hopeless with ugly public rhetoric from both sides. Phone calls where made, seeds planted, a meeting set up, a third party helping break the ice, BINGO, a new hope!
Oh and here is a cite:
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swissinfo: Is it correct to say that the meeting marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War?
Edouard Brunner: Yes, I think you could say that. Both men had convinced themselves that it was useless to go on like this. But on the other hand, they had constituencies at home that were not so easy to handle. Gorbachev had to convince his Politburo that he could do business with Reagan.
[The timing was good because] when Gorbachev came to power there was a ray of hope because for the first time we had a leader in the Soviet Union who was apparently ready to act in a decisive way as far as détente was concerned.
On the other side you had Reagan who was a hawk, but who was intelligent enough to see that he could perhaps put an end to the Cold War. And I think it was Margaret Thatcher who convinced Reagan that he could talk to Gorbachev. That is how it started in June [1985].
swissinfo: You personally met Reagan and Gorbachev. Did they get on as famously as we were led to believe?
E.B.: Our president Kurt Furgler insisted on having a one-on-one with Gorbachev and Reagan for one hour before the talks started. Apparently, at the beginning it was not so warm between them.
The first day, according to Edvard Shevardnadze, whom I met in Georgia, Gorbachev was ready to leave because he didn’t feel at ease with Reagan.
But I think Mrs Gorbachev and Shevardnadze convinced him [to stay]. So the talks went on and in the end they had a good meeting and apparently they liked each other so much that they met some months later in Reykjavik [Iceland].
swissinfo: What role did Switzerland, and you yourself, play in organising that meeting?
E.B.: I was approached by the American negotiator who was in Geneva for disarmament talks with the Soviets, to find out if we were ready to organise a meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev. We had to see to the security, to organise every detail – to find accommodation, meeting places, and so on. Let’s say we organised it in a non-political way.
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http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/swissin...=1117480864000
Your tone suggests my "rhetoric" was foolish. Did I misread that?
Also, do you think indirect communication (letters in the media) is more effective than direct communication (picking up the phone)? If not, why are we on this point?
Don't you think Bush would pick-up if Ahmadinejad called? If not why not?
Again, you have not answered the question - Wouldn't you call Bush to see if you could prevent war if you were the leader of Iran?