Divide and conquer

George Mason University professor Mark Katz writes in The National Interest about how America, despite many difficulties, can successfully exploit the tactics of playing on the contradictions between its rivals:

“All of these factors (the opposition of allies, the opposition of opposition political forces, and the skillful play on the contradictions in US politics between Washington’s rivals - Polit.ru) can play a role in explaining why it has become much more difficult for America to take advantage of differences among its enemies. While these may be obstacles, they are unlikely to be insurmountable.

Protests from smaller allies can be overcome if Washington can convincingly explain what benefits they can get from both improving US relations with common enemies, and what problems this may entail if this policy does not bear fruit. entail. It is also necessary to warn our allies about the dangers of interfering in America's internal affairs and to pay attention to their own contradictions in policy - they are trying to block Washington's attempts to improve relations with its enemies when they themselves have long done so.

The United States must learn to clearly explain to Americans why improving relations with enemies can be beneficial, without exaggerating the benefits that America will receive. Washington needs to learn to explain why restoring relations with a U.S. rival that has become suspicious of another U.S. adversary could benefit America. In addition, it is also necessary to convey to people that if we do not make rapprochement with one of the enemies, then its alliance with other enemies of the United States can only get stronger, despite all the existing differences between them. Moreover, Washington must tell the American public that it is doing this not out of altruism or naive expectations (as opponents of such rapprochements usually claim), but in the interests of the country, based on the principle of realpolitik.

Finally, the success of America's enemies in successfully manipulating differences between Washington and its allies also shows that American diplomacy needs to focus not just on exploiting conflicts between traditional US rivals, but also on preventing rapprochement between America's enemies and its allies. This is precisely what many of Washington’s opponents successfully took advantage of, as they successfully manipulated the differences between the United States and its allies. Therefore, it is now important for Washington to redouble its efforts to create a split in the ranks of US rivals and in the relations between America’s enemies and its long-time allies. If Washington fails to deal with this - due to opposition from allies, domestic political opposition or other reasons - it will only give more opportunities for US enemies to use these tactics.”