Diplomacy has rules.
No matter how serious the subject matter, the negotiators are expected to be cordial, respectful, no matter what they may privately think of the person or persons sitting on the other side of the table.
When a diplomat lets the mask slip for a moment, and calls out the opposition for cheating, for duplicity, even for atrocities, our sympathy is expected to lie with the person being exposed, because we simply weren’t supposed to mention those crimes against humanity out loud while the perpetrator was in the room.Even if they’re true.
…Which brings us back to the real world, on May 21, 2025, when Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, visited the White House, presumably hoping for some foreign aid, having heard about how the waste and abuse of foreign aid is rather frowned upon in the White House these days.
Perhaps President Ramaphosa hoped to win his case with a charm offensive.
The South African government is in the red, having grown accustomed to hundreds of millions of dollars in gifts from the United States...
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