“Getting to know the rare”: what to do with the marginalized of international society?

Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic, Bashar al-Assad and now Vladimir Putin. Should we talk to these undesirables of the international community? What is the cost to the one who appeals to these pariahs? And how do they perceive the ordeal of such a rehabilitation process? It is on these questions and many others that the academician Manon-Nour Tanous, accompanied by a dozen researchers, publishes an original paper on the concept of rarity.

A specialist in the Middle East, this young scholar offers a re-examination of one of the most controversial practices of diplomacy through a series of examples from modern history spanning five continents – a way to demonstrate that the issue concerns all of human society.

All the contributions are rigorous, complete and address various aspects of the interaction, but the whole has less to do with answering questions than raising a topic that creates real passions between those who wish to remain true to the strict sense of diplomacy (talk and/or negotiation) and those who Refuses to argue with the devil or the rare in the name of incompatible ethics and values.

Clash of principles

Authors do not stop at boldness or reluctance. This is to make it clear that the question is one of great difficulty and that it involves considerations which, taken together, give an accurate idea of ​​the scope of the subject. The whole range of elements, such as actors, processes, representativeness, difference or temporality, gives the sense that the debate cannot stop at the conflict between the interest principle and the moral principle.

These two approaches enjoy legitimacy and experience throughout history – academic Pierre Grosser’s contribution to particularly missed or fateful cases such as the Munich Conference in 1938 is remarkable for its foresight – but they are incomplete if not considered. Consider the strategy of a person who is or is at risk of being excluded from the international community.

The book proposes to deal precisely with this possible interaction, also by putting the devil on the side, who has a wide range of behaviors at his disposal. He exploits a sense of real or perceived humiliation, attempts to engage in protest diplomacy before relegating himself to criminal status. In addition to this process of marginalization, contributors are also interested in the ability of the devil to shift the balance of power in his favor, relying on certain powerful supporters who are less supported by human rights ethics and international standards. This is the case of Bashar al-Assad, who with the support of Russia, China and Iran was able to maintain his position in Damascus, giving the impression that the executioner has the last word. but until when