Negotiation Drags On at COP19 in Warsaw

Doesn’t China have an obligation to reduce its greenhouse emissions? Ongoing (and thus far, contentious) negotiations in Warsaw this week reveal the PRC’s “you first” approach–a policy approach that is explored in this Dot Earth interview with Zou Ji, deputy director of China’s National Center for Climate Change Strategy:

For the other aspect, its international responsibility, my understanding is China will take its responsibilities as a large developing country, but certainly subject to its capabilities, also on an equitable basis. China will make the decision not only with the understanding of its own situation …but also the overall design of the global responsibility system, including looking at the share of burden or benefits in the process from other countries – for example the United States, Europe, Japan.

In these aspects China continues to keep the idea of common but differentiated responsibilities [background], very frankly.… China insists in the position to make the framework [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] the political and legal basis for the global regime and we do not see the necessity or need to rewrite or interpret the convention. There have been a lot of changes in the past years, but our observation is for the basis of the convention, its principles and supporting scientific facts, there have been no significant changes.

via A Closer Look at China’s ‘You First’ Stance in Climate Treaty Talks – NYTimes.com.

Other updates from 19th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Warsaw:

• Why one group calls a coalition of Australia, Canada and Japan the “climate saboteurs“
• Full coverage, including live blogging from The Guardian and the G77 + China (132 countries) “walkout” during talks about “loss and damage”
• Follow the negotiations blow-by-blow @Twitter #cop19 climate

Kennedy’s Diplomacy & Legacy at 50 Years

On the 50th commemoration of his tragic and conspiracy-inviting assassination–a “Homeric myth”-inspiring tale according to historian Robert Caro— does JFK deserve the accolades for accomplishing important things in his short presidency?

Others note that Kennedy had other achievements. Robert Dallek makes the case that Kennedy’s greatest contribution was his negotiations that averted a global thermonuclear war:

Most notably, he saved the world from a nuclear war with his astute diplomacy during the October 1962 confrontation with the Soviet Union over Cuba. As he privately said at the time, the military leadership wanted to bomb and invade, but no one alive then would survive to tell them they were wrong.

And while critics focus on the minutiae of those 13 days, Kennedy’s real success was what came after.

via Kennedy’s Legacy of Inspiration – NYTimes.com.

The young president waxed idealistic–a charge some say created unrealistic expectations not only for future successors but for the body politic. But even if this is true, he certainly scores points for inspiring oratory:

“What kind of peace do I mean and what kind of a peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war, not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace — the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living — and the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and build a better life for their children — not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women — not merely peace in our time but peace in all time,” Kennedy said with the Cuban Missile Crisis behind him, the nuclear threat of the Cold War still casting a shadow on the geo-political landscape and the fateful intervention in Vietnam looming on the horizon.

That speech captured the heart and soul of Kennedy as well as any other, a speech about what he called “a more practical, more attainable peace.” It was a new approach to the world and solving its problems, and one that would greatly inform this moment in American history.

via GlobalPost – Hearing JFK’s message of peace in John Kerry’s diplomacy

This, from the president who said: “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”  Diplomacy may not always work–but it is a far better alternative to open conflict, even if it must be leveraged with hard power and coercion to be effective.

U.S. Diplomats Doing Their Thing

In the case of the head diplomat-in-chief, Secretary Kerry tries a risky, ambitious, and energetic push for a Middle East Peace Deal that, for now, has some White House support. A Thursday story explores his background efforts–that quickly make headlines and are part of a complex strategy:

Mr. Kerry’s prodigious energy and desire to make a mark have made him a more activist secretary of state than his famous predecessor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and so far at least, more willing to take risks than Mrs. Clinton, who may have another presidential campaign in her future. Aides say Mr. Obama has marveled at how Mr. Kerry spent seven hours with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, negotiating the fine points of a peace deal with the Palestinians.

via Active and Improvising, Kerry Is Taking On Tough Problems – NYTimes.com.

Another, outgoing U.S. Ambassador to China Gary F. Locke, plays it casual (raising eyebrows) and then leaves a little early (prompting speculation):

Appointed by President Obama, Mr. Locke held the job, one of the most important and difficult American diplomatic posts, for a little more than two years, a relatively short time for a top ambassador.

Mr. Locke’s early informal style drew attention even before he landed in Beijing, when he bought his own Starbucks coffee at the Seattle airport with his young daughter, creating a flurry of interest among the Chinese public.

That informality, including wearing a backpack on his inaugural trip to Beijing, may not have helped his standing among the protocol-conscious Chinese leadership, Chinese and American officials said.

via Gary Locke to Leve as U.S. Ambassador to China – NYTimes.com