“Two Bald Men Fighting Over a Comb”

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 137

“Two Bald Men Fighting Over a Comb” Share Tweet Forward

The 74 days war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falklands/Malvinas territories, with less than 3,000 inhabitants, claimed the lives of 649 Argentines, and 255 British military personnel, and of three Falkland Islanders. The war accomplished little and ended with the return of the islands to British control and the Argentine surrender on June 1982. When asked about the war, the brilliant Argentine philosopher and writer Jorge Luis Borges famously wisecracked that it was like, “two bald men fighting over a comb.” Borges’s witticism came to mind as I considered that, since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, U.S. Presidents have been unable to articulate a unified and consistent foreign policy. The geopolitical tensions of the Cold War, a term coined by English writer George Orwell, began shortly after the end of World War II, in 1945, and had as its main adversaries the United States (and its NATO allies), and the Soviet Union (and its satellite states.) During this period, U.S. foreign policy was guided by the intellect of George F. Kennan and a group of colleagues know as “The Wise Men.” Kennan was arguably the most notable Cold War strategist having inspired the Truman Doctrine and the U.S. policy of “containing” the Soviet Union. In 1946, while serving as deputy head of the U.S. mission in Moscow, Kennan wrote his famous Long Telegram (over 5,500 words) outlining a new strategy of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. A year later, writing under the pseudonym “X”, Kennan published an article in Foreign Affairsexplaining why Stalin’s policy of encircling the capitalist world could not be charmed or talked out of existence. Kennan argued that Soviet expansionism had to “be contained by the adroit and vigilant application of counter-force at a series of constantly shifting geographic and political points.” For Kennan, political, economic, and covert actions were the principal tools of containment. In the tradition of political realism, Keenan emphasized national security based on the principle of balance of power rather than the idealist school of international relations which relies on morality. According to Keenan, American policymakers held unrealistic utopian expectations and sought to make moralistic demands on others based on legalistic concepts and a self-righteous attitude. Keenan’s strategy sought three clear objectives: to contain Soviet expansion, to deter them from acting against vital American interests, and to undermine the idea and practice of communism. Whatever the relative merits of Keenan’s prescience, the point is that, for the nearly five decades of the Cold War, American foreign policy, under numerous presidencies, held its intellectual internal cohesiveness and consistency. This cohesiveness and consistency ultimately resulted in the defeat of the stated adversary. American Cold War foreign policy was not, “Two bald men fighting over a comb.” Perhaps the intellectual low point of American post Cold War foreign policy formulation was expressed in 2013 by President Barak Obama. As reported in a New Yorker article by David Remmick, the President, in a display of Napoleonic hubris and historical ignorance, told the author that he did not need any new grand strategy; “I don’t really even need George Kennan right now”- but, rather the right strategic partners.  Regrettably, President Obama found his “right strategic partners” in Iran’s Hassan Rouhani and Cuba’s Raul Castro. Unfortunately, American governing principles of democracy, free markets, limited government, human rights, individualism and more are not universal principles.   And the vital interests of our adversaries, and at times even the interest of our friends, do not mirror our own. The formulation of a cohesive foreign policy is a difficult endeavor that requires policymakers to contemplate the unknowable. And yes, achieving national objectives often requires unsavory entanglements. Winston Churchill, acknowledging that victory over Nazi Germany required cooperation, noted that he “would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons” if Hitler invaded hell. Lest we find ourselves fighting over an unneeded comb, it is high time that we formulate and articulate a cohesive foreign policy strategy that journeys into the arc of the possible in defense of our vital national interests. We do need a George Kennan right now. Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos,  Lily & José  (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) This article was originally published in English in the Miami Herald and in Spanish in El Nuevo Herald.   José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere. He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Formerly, a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary. They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast. Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now   Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish. Buy now

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