I think Leslie Gelb has the right take on the recent freelance diplomacy by Brazil and Turkey:
The United States will not be able to sustain this highly self-centered and highly differentiated anti-nuclear policy. It could survive during the Cold War in the face of a uniting threat from the Soviet Union, but not now. What Brazil, Turkey and Iran did, will be replicated in years to come. The best and perhaps only way for the United States to retain most of its nuclear cake is to let others munch upon it as well. U.S. administrations should not denigrate or try to sidetrack these inevitable diplomatic efforts by new major powers. Instead, the White House should embrace them and, at the same time, instill in their diplomacy what remains a critical common interest in preventing the spread of nuclear weaponsâ??the absolute need for credible and intrusive inspections into the nuclear operations of all countries developing "peaceful nuclear power."
I suspect we're about to hear a lot of huffing and puffing about the audacity (or treachery) of Turkey and Brazil in attempting to negotiate an end to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
