Carter and the Jews XIII. Respiratory Advice: A Phone Call to Brzezinski
OZICK, CYNTHIA
XIII. Respiratory Advice: A Phone Call to Brzezinski "Peace in an International Framework," the Brzezinski Foreign Policy article, is impressive not simply from the aspect of pedagogy but of pace...
...Me- He hasn't repudiated it...
...Friendly Well, he wrote it five years ago...
...Me That would of course be useful, but it's this statement I'm interested in now Whether he stands by it or would repudiate it...
...Me Are you saying that because of Camp David the statement is superseded...
...Friendly But don't hold your breath...
...Friendly Well, he wrote it...
...Me I understand that That's why I was hoping perhaps he would...
...Friendly I might find some other things he's said in the meantime...
...Friendly Well, I might show it to him and he might have no comment All right...
...And that's why I hoped to find out whether Dr Brzezinski still stands by that statement or whether, because of all the time that's passed and all the things that have happened in between, he's repudiated it...
...Did Friendly ever put the question to Brzezinski...
...Respiratory Advice: A Phone Call to Brzezinski "Peace in an International Framework," the Brzezinski Foreign Policy article, is impressive not simply from the aspect of pedagogy but of pace It took just two years for it to go from languishing unremarked, a safely professorial proposal in a decently academic periodical, to becoming the hidden ventriloquist of American foreign policy It is in this same article that the notion of bringing the Soviet Union into the Arab-Israel dispute emerges as "central to the whole prospect of a peace treaty...
...Friendly I can't answer for Dr Brzezinski...
...Friendly I have no comment about that...
...Five years have now gone by since "Peace in an International Framework" suggested that, in addition to accepting an on-the-spot Soviet presence, Israel must face up to an on-the-spot PLO accommodation Though nothing has occurred on stage or, as far as anybody can tell, behind the scenes, to persuade one that Brzezinski has changed his mind in the interim, it seemed only reasonable to inquire whether he had Accordingly, I telephoned Brzezinski at the White House to put this question He was too busy to come to the phone, but his press secretary, Alfred Friendly, formerly of Newsweek, would get back to me, and with gratifying speed he did I record our conversation from notes and memory...
...It is not a question of trusting the Russians, but of engaging their self-interest," is one of Brzezinski's numerous propositions-most of them amounting to the virtually irrefutable idea that, diplomatically speaking, it is in the wolfs self-interest to stand guard over the lamb "The United States and the Soviet Union might together negotiate a statement in which they would announce their willingness to provide a joint guarantee," Brzezinski wrote When this advice was published, he was a Government professor at Columbia University, when the joint Soviet-American communique was issued in October of 1977, he was a fixture in the White House...
...Friendly I'm not saying it's superseded I'm saying 1975 is five years ago Me Yes...
...Me Can't you tell me yes or no...
...I did not hold my breath, and he did not call back to tell me...
...Me You can't tell me yes or no...
...Me- In the Summer 1975 issue of Foreign Policy, Dr Brzezinski described "the central problem of the Middle East conflict" as being "the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians (which almost certainly means, in practice, the PLO)" Does that statement still stand...
...Especially the operative phrase means, in practice, the PLO...
...Friendly That was before Camp David Many things have happened since then We've had the beginnings of the peace, we've brought in some of the elements, but not all of the elements...
...Friendly Well, Dr Brzezinski wrote it Me Does he still stand by it...
...Me Thank you very much...
...Whether he still stands by it or doesn't stand by it and now has another position...
...Me- Don't hold my breath that you might show it to him, or don't hold my breath that he might comment...
Vol. 63 • June 1980 • No. 12
