Unconcerned with his popularity at home and largely immune to press criticism, he contends that one cannot open a productive negotiation by denouncing the man across the table. He understands that one way to handle a polecat is to treat him like a human. The deeper question is whether Carter any longer knows the difference between polecats and pussycats. One person who observed his negotiations with Raoul Cedras, the Haitian junta leader, is convinced that Carter was cynically acting the role of good cop while the rest of his delegation played bad cop - but another who was there is just as sure that Carter convinced himself Cedras was a man of military honor rather than a murderous thug. Michael Mandelbaum, professor of American foreign policy at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, notes that as President, Carter intensely stressed human rights, but that now he places conflict resolution above everything else.
Results are the acid test.
The record suggests that while Carter may open doors, they do not always lead to lasting accomplishment. Carter last June headed off an Administration plan to impose sanctions with a promise from North Korea to stop bomb-related activities at its nuclear power plants in return for further talks on its nuclear program. The talks eventually led to a declared freeze on the nuclear program in exchange for new, less dangerous reactors from outside. But some Republicans think that set a bad precedent for bribing an outlaw regime not to build atom bombs. And North Korea has been raising objections that could squelch the deal.