Diplomacy 101

What do Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Pakistan, Nigeria and Bangladesh have in common? Well, yes, they are all predominantly Muslim countries, but besides that, they are also all members of the ill-named Developing 8 and they will be meeting in Bali on May 11-13, to discuss "preferential trade" agreements and the like. The D-8 summit comes right on the heels of another summit in Baku --of the Economic Cooperation Organization-- which hosted Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

While little noticed in the Western media, I am sure these meetings are worrying someone at the State Department, and not because of the quotas on dates and nuts the parties will negotiate down. Iran, which was the star in Baku and is passing the chairmanship of the D-8 onto Indonesia in Bali, is busy collecting nods and endorsements for its nuclear program by big players like Turkey and Indonesia. While schmoozing in Asia, Ahmadinejad also sends a thoughtful letter to Bush, calling for dialogue. 

This is a pretty sophisticated diplomatic strategy: while showing the U.S. and EU that it has many friends and that it is not at all isolated in the world, Iran is trying to frame itself in this crisis as the reasonable one who is willing to make the first step towards a solution. Who wants to bomb the nice guy?