The Foreign Service Journal, November 2019

18 NOVEMBER 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL W hat was it like to fly a U-2 reconnaissance plane at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, or to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall as an East German soldier? After Sput- nik, why did the U.S. military consider nuking the moon? In “The Cold War Conversations Podcast,” host and producer Ian Sanders brings on researchers and veterans from both sides of the Iron Curtain to discuss fascinating high- lights of the Cold War. Listen as they share their personal experiences and findings, including up-close-and-personal views from the front lines of great power com- petition, and engage in wide-ranging policy debates. Special guests have included U-2 Squadron Commander Colonel Wil- Site of the Month: coldwarconversations.com liam “Greg” Gregory; Vince Hough- ton, curator of the International Spy Museum; and Professor Sergei Khrushchev, son of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Airing 80 episodes across three seasons to date, the show runs the gamut of iconic scenes of confronta- tion and subterfuge, including in the German Democratic Republic, at Fulda Gap and at Checkpoint Charlie. A day earlier, on Sept. 2, Special Representative for Afghanistan Recon- ciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad had announced that after nearly a year of talks with the Taliban—talks in which the government of Afghanistan was not represented—the United States and the Afghan insurgent group had reached an agreement in principle on a process of partial U.S. withdrawal from the country. Within days, however, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined to sign the deal, and President Trump, after saying Taliban negotiators would join him at Camp David to sign the deal, later told reporters at the White House that with respect to the peace talks, “as far as I’m concerned, they are dead.” In their statement, the diplomats note that there are several reasons lasting peace in Afghanistan is elusive, including the fact that “the Taliban have made no clear statements about the conditions they would accept for a peaceful settlement with their fellow Afghans, nor do they have a track record of working with other political forces.” As a long-standing precondition to peace talks, the Taliban have insisted on negotiating directly with the United States, instead of recognizing the govern- ment of the Islamic Republic of Afghani- stan as a party to be included. Pointing to the potential conse- quences of failed talks or the collapse of the Afghan government, the letter asserts: “There is an outcome far worse than the status quo, namely a return to the total civil war that consumed Afghanistan as badly as the war with the Russians.” U.S. Diplomats: Avoid Rush to Failure in Afghanistan I n a letter published by the Atlantic Council on Sept. 3, veteran U.S. diplomats argue against a premature withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghani- stan and for a more inclusive peace process. “We believe that U.S. security and values, including support for women, require that a full troop withdrawal come only after a real peace,” the diplomats, including Ambassadors James Dobbins, Ronald Neumann, John Negroponte and Ryan Crocker, declare. UPU Deal Reached G ood news for overseas diplomats: The United States reached a deal Sept. 25 to remain within the Universal Postal Union. As a result, mail should keep flowing to diplomatic pouch addresses. Diplomats had worried that a U.S. walkout from the pact would lead to substantial difficulties in getting over- seas mail to American embassies and consulates around the world. The Trump administration had threatened to pull out of the union unless the import fees stucture was changed in favor of the United States. The compromise means that high- volume importers of mail such as the United States will pay reduced fees to the UPU, Reuters reported.