The Value of One-to-One Relationships in Foreign Affairs

Lessons from Egypt: Does Safety Trump Democracy?

What do ex Peace Corps volunteers have to say about relying on leader-to-leader relationships instead of people-to-people relationships? Just recently the Peace Corps celebrated it 50th anniversary. It is a lot different than when we were in Ecuador in the early 1970s. But much is still the same.

What is going on in Egypt appears to be rather profound. It is not obvious how it will turn out. However, there is a fundamental flaw that we see in how the USA (and other countries too) does its diplomacy. There is the idea that a strong man at the top of the pyramid can control what is going on in his country in favor of the USA. For awhile it works. However without broad contacts between the base of the pyramid, the masses of people, and the foreign country desiring some element of influence that it will surely fall apart.

That is what we are seeing in part in Egypt. Where are the many thousands, maybe millions of contacts between countries by means of organizations like the Peace Corps. I don't even know if the Peace Corps has been active in Egypt. It is just one means of linkage between countries.

While in Ecuador we spent two school years in the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral. A "polytechnic" is an engineering / technical university. Latin American universities are highly politicized and so was the ESPOL. One day the students seized the ESPOL and made their demands all the way from "we want better food in the cafeteria" to "we want world peace".  One of the signs posted on the wall was the typical "Yankees Go Home"  I asked a student if that meant us, teaching electronics engineering and mathematics.  "Oh no! We want the Yankees to stop meddling in our affairs. We know you and are glad you are here to help. Please don't go!"

Foreign policy that is not based on the great masses of humanity, but instead depends on head of state-to-head of state will surely not last or mean as much.