Photo credit: Janet Donovan
It wasn’t all about rogue regimes, but the center of conversation at the book party for “Dancing with the Devil” author Michael Rubin at the Kalorama home of Juleanna Glover and Christopher Reiter did delve into the cost of diplomacy and how, in Rubin’s opinion, when not backed up by sanctions and military force, could become the shortest path to war. He explained why below.
In his forthcoming book, Rubin uses historic evidence to show that when America sits across the table from rogue regimes, the result is seldom peace. He backs this up with a number of cases to support this theme. “Soldiers spend weeks analyzing the lessons learned after every military exercise, but rarely do diplomats ponder why their strategies toward rogues have failed,” he noted. “Dancing with the Devil” represents an opportunity to apply these lessons of history, rather than repeat them to America’s detriment.” Rubin is a former Pentagon official.
Natalya Anfilofyeva with host Juleanna Glover
“Just go back to Albert Einstein’s quip that insanity is doing the same action repeatedly but expecting different results each time.”
Amir Afkhami introduced his former Yale buddy this way: “Ever since I have known him as a grad student, he has always been willing to ask the difficult questions and always take up the difficult challenges. Whether it was challenging the graduate student union at Yale or challenging Saddam Hussein when it was not popular to challenge Saddam Hussein, Michael has always been willing to ask the difficult questions.
Katherine Stack, Amir Afkhami with Christina Sevilla, Deputy Assistant USTR
Host Christopher Reiter with Interior Designer Robert Shields
Author Michael Rubin: Dancing with the Devil:
