Seldom have envoys and embassies faced so many hazards—and catcalls
"My slowly creeping doubt is that we may be contemplating the beginning of the end of diplomacy—not as an art, which we will always need, but as an institution."
So warned Italy's Roberto Ducci last month, retiring as Rome's Ambassador to London after 42 years in his country's foreign service. Indeed, seldom before in modern history has diplomacy been so dangerous, or so seemingly discredited, a calling. The clear and ugly danger is represented by terrorists who look on embassies and diplomatic missions as ripe, highly visible targets of opportunity, and their occupants as valuable hostages. At the same time, the traditional role of the diplomat, as an international negotiator, has been to some degree rendered obsolete in an age of Instant communications, when heads of state and foreign ministers personally conduct essential business, sometimes without consulting their appointed envoys. American embassies, symbols of "imperialism," are special targets of leftist zealots. And these days American diplomacy itself is the target of much criticism by both allies and enemies—criticism inspired by what too often seems to be insufficiently considered policies announced by President Carter and his aides.
Last week the turmoil besetting the diplomatic scene reverberated dramatically on three fronts:
> In Tehran, an apparent move toward the possible release of the hostages held by militants at the U.S. embassy came just as a special U.N. commission was ready to give up in abject failure. The militants, who have occupied the embassy for more than four months, prepared to turn over their 50 prisoners to Iran's ruling Revolutionary Council, but at week's end were still arguing with Iranian government officials as to when the transfer might actually take place.
> In Bogotá, walk-on-eggs negotiations between the Colombian government and leftist guerrillas holding diplomatic hostages at the embassy of the Dominican Republic produced the release last week of another prisoner. Several other envoys were among the hostages still being held at gun point inside the building.
> In Washington, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance took full public responsibility for a "mistaken" U.S. vote in favor of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling upon Israel to dismantle all of its settlements in the occupied territories. This astonishing policy turnabout managed to antagonize both Israelis and Arabs, raised new doubts among America's allies about the credibility of Carter's foreign policy, and contributed to the already shaky morale of the U.S. Foreign Service. U.S. diplomacy had seldom seen darker hours.