Washington– President Donald Trump took the unusual step of using military leaders to conduct high-level diplomacy, sending the top US commander in the Middle East to… Talks on the Iranian nuclear program And positioning Secretary of the Army as lead negotiator On termination The war between Russia and Ukraine.
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, joined for the first time Indirect talks between the United States and Iran Friday in Amman, where he appeared in his official uniform as a reminder Mobilization of American military power In the region. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll also reprized his role Russia-Ukraine talks this weekHe worked to keep the conversation going with Ukrainian officials in the downtime between sessions, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.
With Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner Balancing the two sets of thorny negotiations, the option of bringing in military leaders – whether for their expertise, contacts or to signal Possible tougher options – Reflects how the Republican administration did It turned traditional American foreign policy upside down And diplomacy.
Elissa Ewers, who served in national security positions in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, said the appointment of active-duty military leaders like Cooper to diplomatic roles shows how the Trump administration has devalued skilled diplomats and the tools of diplomacy in favor of over-reliance on the military to try to solve foreign policy challenges.
“It often takes a tremendous amount of time, investment, and hard work to get to the point where you can say diplomacy has worked,” said Ewers, now a Middle East scholar at the Center for a New American Security, citing the saying, “Not every nail needs a hammer.”
But Elliot Cohen, who served as a State Department adviser in the George W. Bush administration, pointed out how American generals participated in arms control talks with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Cohen said Trump’s move to send Driscoll, the military’s top civilian commander, was unusual. But, he said, “Presidents do this kind of thing.”
“There is a long tradition of American presidents using extraordinary people as envoys if they trust them and believe they can deliver the message,” Cohen said.
The talks in Amman aim to calm escalating tensions between Iran and the United States The area is on the edge. Trump said the talks were “very good” and more are scheduled to take place early next week. But he warned that if Iran did not reach an agreement on its nuclear program, “the consequences will be very serious.”
Trump repeatedly threatened to use force to force Iran to reach an agreement, and he sent the message The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln And other warships to the area during Bloody crackdown in Tehran On national protests.
Michael O’Hanlon, a defense and foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution, said Cooper’s presence was intended to “signal determination and intimidation.”
“Including the commander of US Central Command is highly unusual, and appears intended more to send a message than to add to the negotiating team’s weight in the talks themselves,” O’Hanlon wrote in an email.
“But the relationship is already so tense and bad that I doubt it will make much difference, unless the Iranians fundamentally rethink their nuclear program,” O’Hanlon added.
Michael Singh, who was senior director for Middle East affairs on the White House National Security Council under George W. Bush, said he saw Cooper’s presence as having something to do with his experience.
Singh said Witkoff and Kushner are not Iran experts but specialize in diplomatic talks around the world, while Cooper has knowledge of the region and access to military experts who can evaluate any proposed concessions to Iran’s nuclear program.
Cooper spoke at length about Iran’s nuclear and military capabilities during his nomination hearing in June, shortly after the US launched the missile. Strikes on key nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic.
“We are dealing with these very technical issues,” said Singh, managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “They are not issues that you can approach instinctively. Admiral Cooper will have access to that expertise in a way that Witkoff and Kushner do not or may not choose to access.”
Cohen, a former Bush administration official who is now a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Cooper brings knowledge and an implicit threat to use force, “which is part of the negotiations.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on why Trump sent Cooper to participate in the talks.
In November, Driscoll was suddenly It was used for negotiations To try to end the nearly 4-year-long Russian war in Ukraine.
Talks stalled at that time, and Driscoll used an already planned trip to Ukraine as an opportunity to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior government, military and defense industry officials.
Since then, Driscoll has participated in several other negotiating sessions, including in Abu Dhabi this week.
The person familiar with the negotiations said that Driscoll’s role was to serve as a kind of liaison between the Ukrainians and Trump officials such as Witkoff and Kushner.
The person said the relationship with the Ukrainians was a result of Driscoll’s ability to maintain dialogue between negotiating sessions as well as his military perspective as a commander and former Army officer.
Driscoll served as an armor officer for more than three years and achieved the rank of first lieutenant. He was deployed to Iraq from October 2009 to July 2010.
In Abu Dhabi, he was joined by US General Alexus Grynkewich, the commander in Europe of both US and NATO forces, who helped negotiate the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. – Resuming high-level military dialogue between the two armies Between the United States and Russia for the first time in four years.
A US Army statement said that these talks “will provide consistent military communication as the two parties continue to work toward achieving a lasting peace.”