Secret Diplomacy: The Practice of Back Channel Diplomacy by Liberal Democratic States by Nick Parfait Momengoh A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-Newark Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Global Affairs Written under the direction of Dr. Richard Langhorne And approved by ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ Newark, New Jersey May 2013 Copyright page: May 2013 Nick P. Momengoh ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Abstract of the Dissertation Secret Diplomacy: The Practice of Secret Diplomacy by Liberal Democratic States By Nick Parfait Momengoh Dissertation Director: Dr. Richard Langhorne In January 1919, in the Paris Peace Conference, US President Woodrow Wilson stated that diplomacy ought to be: “Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.” Due to the idea that diplomatic and foreign policy intrigues had led to the Great War of 1914-18, the call for transparency seemed the ultimate solution. Since then, secret diplomacy has been the object of controversy and a contradiction to the principles of liberal democracy. As the title indicates, this dissertation will focus on the practice of secret diplomacy by liberal democracies. This is a practice that has been condemned, and this dissertation is designed to use illustrations and analysis of secret diplomatic documents in order to investigate the following questions. Do liberal democracies still practice secret diplomacy? And, if they do, is such a practice justified in a democracy? Why is secret diplomacy still an object of debate for democracies? And, can secret diplomacy survive in this Information Age? ii Most of the illustrations will be drawn from two Western liberal democracies: France and the United States. The main challenge facing an academic researcher in studying secret diplomacy is the fact that a lot of diplomatic documents are not necessarily available or classified. Facing this challenge, this study will investigate how much evidence can be found by exploring the released documents and diplomatic archives. The significance of this study is two-fold. First, the plan is to redefine the concept of secret diplomacy within the parameters of international relations. It is important for the understanding of international relations and global governance to explore the practice of secret diplomacy. Then, the study will explore secret diplomatic cases from different point in time to provide the answers to the above questions. Another value of this investigation is based on the fact that the analysis brings Anglo/American/French studies into one place, and provides evidence to fill the gaps in the official story of those events. One needs to understand that open diplomacy only represents the “tip of the diplomatic iceberg.” The other side of the diplomatic iceberg is beneath the surface and under the “waters of international relations.” iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank my main advisor Dr. Richard Langhorne for all the help, assistance, and support throughout the dissertation process. He also encouraged me to pursue my interest in international diplomacy in all its aspects. I also thank my dissertation advisors Dr. Susan Carruthers, Dr. Carlos Seiglie, and Dr. Frank Fischer, for all their advices and dedication to this project. I also would like to thank Dr. Aharon Klieman for providing an insight into the practice of the “Secret Statecraft” for democracies. I dedicate this dissertation to my parents, Zénaïde and Jacques Momengoh. This is also dedicated to the memory of Ambassador Médard Momengoh. iv Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction 1 A)- Purpose of the Research 2 B)- Literature Review 9 C)- Historical and Intellectual Debates 35 d)- Organization of the Dissertation 45 Chapter Two: Secret Diplomacy between the Wars 50 II-A- Locarno Treaty II-B- The Hoare-Laval Pact II-C- The Ribbentrop-Molotov Non-Aggression Pact 53 II-C1- Analysis of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Negotiations a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities Chapter Three: Secret Diplomacy and French Diplomacy 66 III-A- Early Cases of Secret Diplomacy in France 66 III-B- Franco-German Secret Negotiations over Disputed Territories 70 III-B1- Analysis of the Franco-German Secret Negotiations over disputed territories 76 a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities III-C- French Diplomacy and the Sèvres Secret Agreement 83 III-C1- Analysis of the Sèvres Secret Negotiations 86 a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities III-D- Franco-German Secret Negotiations and the Rambouillet Accord 92 III-D1- Analysis of the Rambouillet Secret Negotiations 97 v a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities Chapter Four: Secret Diplomacy and American Diplomacy 103 IV-A- Early Cases of Secret Diplomacy in the United States 103 IV-B- Anglo-American Secret Diplomacy and the “Project Alpha” 110 IV-B1- Analysis of the Anglo-American “Alpha” Negotiations 115 a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities IV-C- Secret Diplomacy and the US Accommodation with Cuba 120 IV-C1- Analysis of the Secret Diplomatic attempts towards Cuba 127 a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities IV-D- Secret Diplomacy and the US-China Rapprochement 134 IV-D1- Analysis of the Secret Negotiations with China 140 a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities Chapter Five: Secret Diplomacy and Franco-American National Securities 147 V-A- Secret Diplomacy and US National Security: ABM Negotiations 148 V-A1- Analysis of the ABM Negotiations 154 a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities V-B- Secret Diplomacy and France’s National Security: US Assistance 159 V-B1- Analysis of France’s US Nuclear Assistance Negotiations 166 vi a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities Chapter Six: Secret Diplomacy and US Negotiations on International Security 173 VI-A- US-Iran Secret Negotiations in the 1970s 174 VI-A1- Analysis of the US-Iran Secret Negotiations 182 a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities VI-B- US-UK Negotiations and the “Secret Understanding” 188 VI-B1- Analysis of the US-UK Negotiations and the “Secret Understanding” 195 a)- Organization of the Negotiations b)- The Role of Secrecy c)- Government Particularities Chapter Seven: Secret Diplomacy and Democratic Principles 200 VII-A- Definitions of Terms 201 VII-B- Democratic Requirements 203 VII-C- Protection and Legality of Diplomatic Secrecy 208 a)- Government Secrecy in France b)- Government Secrecy in the United States VII-D- The Consequences of Diplomatic Secrecy 214 VII-E- The Future of Secret Diplomacy 215 a)- Diplomatic Institutions b)- Globalization and Technological Innovations Chapter Eight: Conclusion 222 Bibliography 237 vii 1 Chapter One Introduction Dissertation Topic: Secret Diplomacy: The practice of back channel diplomacy by liberal democratic states. In January 1919, in the Paris Peace Conference, US President Woodrow Wilson stated that diplomacy ought to be: “Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.”1 Due to the idea that diplomatic and foreign policy intrigues had led to the Great War of 1914-18, the call for transparency seemed the ultimate solution. Since then, secret diplomacy has been the object of controversy and a contradiction to the principles of liberal democracy or “free society.” The topic of my dissertation is in the field of international diplomacy. As the title indicates, the dissertation will focus on the practice of secret diplomacy by liberal democratic states. This is a practice that has been condemned, and this dissertation is designed to use illustrations and analysis of secret diplomatic documents in order to investigate the following questions. Do liberal democracies still practice secret diplomacy? And, if they do, is such a practice justified in a democracy? Why is secret diplomacy still an object of debate for democracies? And, can secret diplomacy survive 1 Lamont, Thomas William. The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, April 1, 1919. Edited by Arthur Link, 60 Vols. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966-1978), Vol. 65, 502. 2 in this Information Age? Most of the illustrations will be drawn from two Western liberal democracies: France and the United States. (I)-A- Purpose of the Research The main challenge facing an academic researcher in studying secret diplomacy is the fact that a lot of diplomatic documents are not necessarily available. Secret negotiations that are still in progress cannot be revealed as to avoid compromising those diplomatic missions. Many documents related to secret negotiations are classified or not available for twenty to thirty years and sometimes are not even released at all. Facing this challenge, this study will investigate how much evidence can be found by exploring the declassified documents