Secretarial Consensus

When five former secretaries of state -- three from Republican administrations and two from Democratic - -sit down to give foreign policy advice to the next president in the midst of two wars and a heated campaign, sweet reason and unanimity is not guaranteed.

Include polar opposites like Henry Kissinger and Madeline Albright in the mix, and the odds become longer.

Yet bipartisan consensus is what emerged last week at the University of Georgia, where I moderated the 16th Conference of Former Secretaries of State, produced by the Southern Center for International Studies, which will be broadcast on PBS next month. The roster included Colin Powell, James Baker and Warren Christopher, along with Kissinger and Albright.

All five agreed that the next president should close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and open a dialogue with Iran without preconditions. They also advocated a more pragmatic, open-minded approach to Pakistan, continued close ties with India, further efforts to engage China and a renewed push for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Guantanamo, they said, has become a blot on the U.S. reputation abroad. Even Kissinger, who said he had concerns about how to handle the inmates in the U.S. legal system, agreed that the camp should be closed.

Talking with Iran is essential, they said, because of the key role Iran plays in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. "One has to talk with adversaries," said Kissinger, the man who forged the opening to China three decades ago. Colin Powell agreed, recalling the talks he conducted with Syria during his tenure in President George W. Bush's first term. "They are not always pleasant visits," he said, "but you have got to do it."

The secretaries agreed as well that the U.S. embargo against Cuba has failed and should be dropped. "When policies don't work for 50 years," said Warren Christopher, "it is time to think of something else. The audience of 2,300 at the Dean Rusk Center broke into applause.

Perhaps politics can stop at the water's edge, after all.

Terence Smith's blog appears at terencefsmith.com

Comments

[SamThornton]

Our Cuba embargo hasn't worked for 50 years? I'm betting that if we give it just 6 more months it will work just peachy-keen.

[celticjag]

What a distinguished group of America's best:
Colin Powell: Initial My Lai Massacre cover-up, Civilian deaths in Panama and Iraq 1991!
Henry Kissinger: Vietnam and Chilean Coup in 1973 and the atrocities that ensued!
Madeline Albright: Hundreds of thousands of dead children in Iraq, due to sanctions enforced during Clinton administration, saying that the deaths were an acceptable price to pay to enforce U.S. policy!
Gee, sorry I missed the meeting!

[Disparaged]

Thank God, finally some clarity in this mess of 5+ years, 4,000+ lives and trilliions of dollars in treasure spent because of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfield failed policies particularly in Iraq. How many past Presidents' with the same policy on Cuba? The only politician I see on the horizon, who has continuously said he would even speak to our adversaries without preconditions, has been Barack Obama; certainly none of the other politicians have made an effort or dent in negotiations, and .none have brokered a secure settlement of peace anywhere. Anytime I hear of a peace settlement it is always short-lived. I certainly can't see HRC making any progress in this area. This will certainly be one PBS broadcast well worth watching!

[altohone]

Terence-

It is nice to see a consensus to endorse Obama's foreign policy approach.

Somebody should tell Hillary and McCain.


I must take issue with your description of the former secretaries though.
I believe they ALL supported the invasion of Iraq or went along.
Allbright was an original signatory of PNAC, Project for a New American Century, with Wolfowitz, Khalilzad and the rest of the neocons.

Polar opposites may be accurate in the spectrum of neoliberal establishmentarians, but that's a narrow range indeed.
I am shocked to see them so clearly oppose our current policy, but their adoption of a modern approach should not absolve them of their roles in helping shape the mess they got us in... or did too little to prevent.

I suppose old dogs can learn new tricks, but let's not forget recent history and let them headline the next magic show.