DOES STARMER KNOW THE ART OF THE DEAL? Only he can bring the West an outcome which is BETTER THAN A CEASEFIRE

And Can we look at Trump as a Peacemaker even as Wars rage? WITH KEN DEKLEVA

(This post contained content that was incorrect and my tone might have come across as glib on such a serious topic so i’ve edited it. Thanks to my close friend who point out these potentially insensitive statements.)

There have been incorrect rumours that Starmer was delaying Trump from striking Fardow from Diego Garcia. Read more on this from the Guardian. This has turned out to be incorrect. The Americans have the ability to strike whether the British want them to use Diego Garcia or not.

---

I do not believe whole nations are evil. I think we should be able to reach win-win compromises with our geopolitical adversaries. As all listeners to the pod and readers of this substack will know I believe we need to work with Russia, Iran, and China on climate change, AI regulation, and cybercrime. I’ve briefed congressmen about the need to work with the Saudis and Qataris in crafting a post-War solution in Gaza. In the 2000s, I worked on bringing Qadhafi in from the cold after he gave up his WMD and paid off the Lockerbie families. I lived in Syria during the early days of the Bashar al-Assad regime and worked on trying to pull it away from the Iranian axis. Jonathan Powell rightly advocated “talking to terrorists”. I’ve lived my life by that maxim.

So begins the op-ed I am trying to pitch the British centrist media about where we are at in this unbelievably unique historical moment. But doesn’t mean we can’t have a little laugh about this unbelievably fraught moment. So while we remember the victims of this war on all sides… lets have a little laugh about the below

IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHY MANY WESTERN ANALYSTS THINK THE JOB NEEDS TO BE FINISHED AT FORDOW READ FROM MY FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE MICHAEL HOCHBERG WHO WROTE THE BRILLIANT SUBSTACK BELOW

A golden opportunity for victory

JANE AND I HAVE DIFFERENT VIEWS ON THIS QUESTION (we discuss them at the end of our Tuesday pod here. I THINK IT IS ONE OF OUR BEST AND THE LAST TWENTY MINS ESPECIALLY WHERE WE DISCUSS THIS PART) DESPITE OUR DISAGREEMENTS I STILL LOVE JANE AS A MEGA-ORDERER AND WAS SO PROUD OF HER FLYING THE FLAG ON BLOOMBERG TWO DAYS AGO.

AND NOW FOR A FEW MEME JOKES

This is probably true but still funny

And now to Today’s episode:

Can we look at Trump as a Peacemaker even as Wars rage?

LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS HERE; and on Spotify here

Trump promised to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, yet here we are – months later – and seemingly no real progress has been made towards peace in either regions. In the meantime, Trump and co were also seeking deals across the Middle East, including a new nuclear deal with Iran. How did that go? It ended in full scale War! Is the Art of the Deal dead? Is Trump a fool? Or is he more of a master negotiator than is immediately apparent? Did he actually manipulate the Iranians in a way that Biden never could have?

To discuss this – and the intricate relationship between human psychology and the politics of negotiations – Jason was joined on June 10 by Ken Dekleva. A former senior US Dept of State physician-diplomat, CEO of Blackwood Advisory Solutions LLC, and Author of The Russian Diplomat’s Wife.

Ken and Jason discuss the role of human psychology in Trump’s negotiations involving Ukraine, Russia, and Iran. Plus: they unpack the influence of Steve Witkoff within Trump’s inner circle, the complexities of negotiations in the Middle East – and whether Team Trump is likely to get any sort of deal with powers like Iran who wish to appear uncompromising. Listening to this discussion post Israeli Attack on Iran is actually super interesting as it shows the interplay btw negotiations and war in that region.

LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS HERE; and on Spotify here

And as they Order the Disorder, they touch on the future of U.S.-China relations in the context of AI and global power dynamics, and the need for a strategic approach to negotiations.

Producer: George McDonagh

Subscribe to our Substack -

Disorder on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DisorderShow

Show Notes Links:

Get Ken’s Book, The Russian Diplomat’s Wife - https://www.thecipherbrief.com/book-review/i-spy-a-love-story

Listen to our previous episode with Ken - https://pod.link/1706818264/episode/94c9f3ec23902d3f606bffb43dc39928

Watch Does NATO Have A Future?

Read profile of Steve Witkoff https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/05/steve-witkoff-putin-russia-ukraine-diplomat/682805/

Key Quotes

1 (Ken) -   It's very difficult now because it's gone beyond in recent weeks, the comments that President Trump has made where he said, this is crazy. And what's very worrisome to me as someone who lived in Moscow for five years, traveled all over Russia and the former Soviet Union as part of my job is what the Russian media and other Russian leaders, senior leaders such as  president Putin's press spokesman. Dmitry Peskov of a former SVR officer. Yes. And Dimitri said, and other Russian media personalities said in the aftermath of President Trump's vla, you're crazy comment. I'm paraphrasing. They said he's suffering from emotional overload, Trump is? Trump is. Now in Russian culture, that's a bad thing.

2 (Ken) -   President Trump is finding out that even if you have a really good beginning and a good start, I've told friends of mine who are golfers this who asked me about President Trump's negotiations in 2018 with Kim Jong-Un when he went to Singapore. I said, president Trump's like a golfer who made an eagle on a par five, the first ever for the most difficult course in the world, but you still have to play the other 17 holes. [FROM JASON] I'm interested to know what eagle are you referring to? Well, I think going to Singapore and meeting with Kim Jong-un was historic and I would, politically, I would call that an eagle. Interesting. 'cause he broke the ice that had beveled numerous presidents in terms of dealing with North Korea and their nuclear program. It was psychologically and symbolically important, very aspirational. And of course it continued in Hanoi, but then things fell apart and then President Trump tried to reset it by going to the DMZ. Five months later, I think it was in June of 2019, where he became the first acting US president to set foot in North Korea. But then he lost the momentum, unfortunately, and that's a whole different negotiation challenge now.

MEGA ORDERERS IF YOU ENJOY THIS KIND OF CONTENT AND APPRECIATE THE URGENCY OF OUR TIMES AND WANT TO HEAR LIVELY DEBATES ABOUT REAL ISSUES… PLS TAKE A PAID FOR SUBSCRIPTION BELOW TO SUPPORT OUR WORK