Dan Drezner, professor of international politics at Tufts University, makes the case that it was the decision by the Obama administration to force down the plane of Bolivian president Evo Morales because of suspicions that Edward Snowden may have been on board.
I never know how to create rank-ordered lists of things so I don’t even try. After all, the tragic deaths of so many innocent people because of drone strikes around the world that have caused such anger surely has to count as a major blunder. And what about the revelations of the NSA tapping into the communications of foreign leaders?
But what the Morales episode did was remind us and the rest of the world once again that the US, despite its pious pronouncements whenever its own diplomats are threatened, has the utmost contempt for the sovereign rights of other countries and diplomatic norms if those stand in the way of it getting what it wants. Just imagine another country forcing down Air Force One because of suspicions that the plane was carrying a dissident from the country that the president had just visited. Unthinkable, isn’t it? Because these rules only apply one way.
Defaulting on U.S. Treasury debt would have been a sure winner if the Tea Party had been able to pull it off.
Just imagine another country forcing down Air Force One because of suspicions that the plane was carrying a dissident from the country that the president had just visited.
Le Dieu se marche’ avec les gros battalions.
This one: (which surprisingly is not getting a lot of airplay in the US) may also be a pretty interesting blunder:
http://m.indianexpress.com/news/devyani-khabrogades-arrest-furious-india-downgrades-privileges-of-us-diplomats/1208694/
Re Marcus Ranum @ #3
Here’s an article from a US news source. Mayor Bloomberg’s farewell to New York City.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/world/asia/outrage-in-india-over-female-diplomats-arrest-in-new-york.html?_r=0
How about sending aid to Al Qaeda?
“has the utmost contempt for the sovereign rights of other countries and diplomatic norms”
Forcing down that plane in Europe certainly ranks high, if we define a blunder as acting against ones own interests. The net result for the USA was exactly zero; sympathy for Snowden in Europe has increased; chances that the members of the EU will reach consensus on the Snowden and NSA issue are very good now. The EU is a slow beast due to the need for consensus, but as soon it’s there it’s almost unbeatable and you don’t want to have her against you. The EU has won several diplomatic battles before against the USA last several decades.
The USA haven’t met all the setbacks yet; Snowden’s position is much better than say 9 months ago. Russia and the EU have several issues, but Snowden is not one of them. A job well done, Obama.
Did the USA that in 2013?