Successful diplomatic relations a two-way street

The new US ambassador to SA, Leo Brent Bozell, has started his tenure on a wrong footing. Hardly a month into his new role,Bozell has been ignominiously summoned by Pretoriafor comments deemed “undiplomatic”. Bozell was always a controversial choice for US ambassador to SA, given his past and a very public opponent of the liberation struggle that delivered the current dispensation.

On Bozell’s part, it means accepting that SA is a sovereign republic with full rights to adopt its own policies, pass laws and form alliances — both tactical and strategic. While it is within his rights, as the US’s chief diplomat here, to try to influence the country’s foreign affairs policy, this ought to be done through persuasion and not admonition. After all, in the bad old days of apartheid, Bozell was among those in the US who supported “constructive engagement” with the illegitimate National Party regime, so why would he want to take a less diplomatic approach with a democratically elected government?

Diplomatic engagement does not mean that countries should agree with each other on every issue of international importance. In fact, success in the art of diplomacy is measured precisely by the ability to manage differences.