<Diplomacy: tact and skill in dealing with people.
Pit bull: John Bolton, Dubya’s appointed American ambassador to the United Nations without U.S. Senate confirmation.
Bolton, a tyrant universally criticized for his inability to negotiate and compromise, now is expected to display those skills in dealing with diplomats from 190 other member countries of the U.N.
On record as sharply critical of the U.N., Bolton has a flawed track record as an arms-control expert. He has never served as an ambassador.
Bolton will be thrust into intense negotiations on contentious issues ranging from Security Council reform, poverty alleviation, improving U.N. management and stepping up the global fight against terrorism.
Remember Nikita Krushev’s 1956 pounding of a shoe on a desk of the Soviet Union delegation during a U.N. session? Expect Bolton to top that.
Heaven help the United States. (7 AUGUST 2005)
