USIP PeaceWatch - October 1996

Short Takes Selected Institute Events

Containing "Rogue" States
Lumping a small, disparate group of states under the "rogue state" rubric reinforces the American tendency to frame policy choices in terms of an overly simplified "containment/engagement" dichotomy, says Robert Litwak, director of international studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. An executive fellow at the Institute in 1995-96, Litwak discussed his fellowship research on "Containment After the Cold War: U.S. Policy Toward Rogue States" at a work-in-progress talk June 19. His study focuses on U.S. policy toward three states: North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. "The challenge facing the United States is to break out of its dichotomized approach to these countries and to develop a repertoire of strategies that would better address the complexities and diversity of the post-Cold War era," Litwak said. Litwak served on the National Security Council staff as an Institute executive fellow in 1995 and then spent six months at the Institute working on his project.

Negotiating Across Cultures
Only a generation ago, problems of cross-cultural communication were of little concern to a still exclusive, self-centered Western diplomacy, says Raymond Cohen (right), a senior fellow at the Institute this past year. "Today, reflecting the altered agenda and make-up of the international community, the West necessarily conducts a greatly increased proportion of its business outside the former charmed circle," he says. Cohen discussed his project on cross-cultural negotiation at a work-in-progress talk in July.

A fellow at the Institute in 1988-89, Cohen returned this year to update and revise his book Negotiating Across Cultures, the second edition of which will be published by the USIP Press in 1997. Cohen cautions that--to avoid critical misunderstandings in international negotiations--negotiation training for diplomats and other officials has to incorporate both a general sensitivity to cross-cultural differences, as well as detailed coaching in individual national styles. Cohen's work has laid the groundwork for a more extensive Institute program of research and training on cross-cultural negotiating skills.

A Fragile Peace in the Middle East
The fragility of the peace process in the Middle East and its inability to unfold harmoniously is due in large measure to the neglect of the domestic constituencies involved, says Tahseen Basheer, a senior fellow in 1995-96. "The dramatic handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn in September 1993 propelled the peace process and served to build on both the regional and international constituencies, but it neglected to work on the domestic constituencies," he said at a work-in-progress talk August 6. Basheer's project focuses on the constituencies of peace in the Middle East.

Over the next five years, the Arab population in the Middle East will continue to increase dramatically, and Israel will continue to seek more Jewish immigrants at its shores, Basheer said. These two areas of population growth will present a further serious challenge to peace and stability in the region.

Conflict Resolution and Traditional Healing in South Africa
The KwaZulu-Natal Regional Peace Committee in South Africa is involving traditional healers in efforts to resolve conflict in KwaZulu-Natal, says Rev. Daniel Mthokozisi Ngubane, chairman of the group. He spoke at the Institute on August 27. Ngubane, a minister and church administrator and former regional director of WorldVision in South Africa, is at the center of peacemaking/mediation efforts in the strife-torn KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, where factional fighting has left some 14,000 dead since 1984. The violence is related to tensions at the national level between the Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party and Nelson Mandela's African National Congress.

Chinese Delegation to the DNC
The Institute and the Center for Democracy hosted a two-hour meeting in August for the Chinese delegation to the Democratic National Convention. The 12-member group--headed by retired Chinese ambassador Zhang Wenpu--discussed the likely impact of U.S. elections on China policy and the overall state of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship with representatives of the Institute, the Department of State, and the Center for Democracy. The meeting was presided over jointly by Institute president Richard H. Solomon and Alan Romberg of the State Department. © 1996 United States Institute of Peace