Dennis Rodman: Diplomacy Isn’t About Friendships, It’s About Persuasion

As a well-regarded ambassador once explained early in my foreign service career, diplomacy is about persuading people to do what you want them to do; it’s not about getting along and mouthing pleasantries.

The danger with many “celebrity ambassadors” is that they do not understand the distinction and often arrive on their self-appointed mission with no plan for follow through and little conception of the overall complexity of the situation. Joining hands for a kumbaya moment may make for a great photo op, but if that were enough the world would have been at peace for generations. Getting to peace requires both sides to understand the causes of tension and the concrete actions needed to rebuild trust and confidence. Unconditional professions of friendship are not productive: indeed, suggesting to Kim Jong-un that he has sympathetic friends in the West (with no influence among policy makers, by the way) did absolutely nothing to prevent him from dangerously escalating his rhetoric and raising the chances of miscalculation.

Celebrity ambassadors can play a hugely helpful role when they draw public attention to neglected or vulnerable populations. Think of those who advocate on behalf of victims of genocide in Darfur, who bother to educate themselves and offer solutions beyond platitudes. Nor should celebrity ambassadors be confused with "Track II diplomacy," where citizen to citizen contacts can form a foundation on which official relations can build.

In today’s world, celebrity ambassadors aren’t going to disappear. What we can, and must, demand of them (and of those who make a living following their every move and utterance) is that they adopt the physician’s oath: first, do no harm.

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