University Daily Kansan, March 5, 1981
Page 9
Communication solves conflict, prof says
Roger Fisher
By DEBBY FOSTER Staff Reporter
Communication, not military force, is the key to resolving international disputes. Harvard law professor and specialist in international conflict aid last night.
The specialist, Roger Fisher, told 400 people in the Kansas Union that the threat of military force was not an effective weapon. It did not solve the Iranian crisis, he said, and it will not force the Soviets out of Afghanistan.
According to Fisher, the United States has made several mistakes in handling the Afghan situation.
"We treat ourselves as the target of every action," Fisher said. "We consider the attack on Afghanistan as an attack on the United States."
FISHER PLAYED a part in ending the Iranian crisis, though his role was not official. He acted as a mediator in cases when the Iranians were examining the final agreement, which they refused to sign because of one clause.
"It is far better for us and for the world to have this action seen in its light, as a conflict between the Soviet
Union and a non-aligned Moslem country."
Fisher had an Iranian official and a U.S. official on the telephone at the same time, discussing whether the clause should be in the agreement. The case, which stated that the Iranians would have the rights to negotiate further the dollar amount going into the escrow account, was removed and the matter was settled.
Fisher's advice on the Afghan situation is to have the CIA and news agencies get pictures and facts about what is really happening in Afghanistan and make that information available to the rest of the world.
last year's Summer Olympics in Moscow to have been inefficient.
Fisher also considers the boycott of
"We provided a diversion from the real problems to what Carter was doing to the athletes," he said.
ANOTHER PROBLEM with international relations is the way Americans view the Soviets. Fisher said President Reagan had slipped up last week when he referred to the Soviets as enemies.
"We have to understand their problems and our problems and come up with new strategies."
And the way to do that, he said, is to negotiate. The time to do so is now, not after the Soviets comply with international law, which could be never.
FISHER SUGGESTED that the United States and the Soviet Union draw up a non-binding cease-fire agreement to be supplemented immediately if it were needed.
"Negotiating is not backing down if you have something to say," he said.
"The objective is to work together and understand how each idea did and to
"Words are more powerful weapons than guns. War is a very bad way to settle differences."
The threat of force only drives minds further apart and makes the problem worse, he said.
THE PRESS, Fisher said, also makes the problem worse at times by giving legitimacy to terrorism.
According to Fisher, several of the demonstrations in Iran took place simply because the Iranians knew that the press would cover them.
Fisher has written five books concerning international conflict and occasionally writes columns for newspapers and magazines.
He is a professor at the Harvard School of Law and a consultant to the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.
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