Can Kerry-Lavrov Duplicate Kissinger-Dobrynin?

In "Telephone Diplomacy: The Secret Talks Behind US-Soviet Detente During the Cold War, 1969-1977," I argue that US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Soviet Ambassador to the US Anatoly Dobrynin helped to improve US-Soviet relations in spite of vastly differing national ideologies. This was largely accomplished by way of back channel negotiations (BCN). This method of diplomacy involves both sides choosing a representative to negotiate privately with a representative from the other side, minus pressure from politicians, media, and the public. Often such a negotiating arrangement produces a feeling between the participants that they are "in it together" and makes diplomatic breakthroughs much more likely. With Kissinger and Dobrynin, the overriding concern was the danger of nuclear war.

Although a nuclear exchange is unlikely to result over the current crisis in Ukraine, a successful Russian takeover could render the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) extinct. NATO has been a collective security organization whereby each member agrees that "an attack on one is an attack on all." This policy served the West well during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. However, if neither the US nor Europe is willing to come to the rescue of Ukraine, it will render the 65 year old NATO pact defunct. I am unaware if any back channel negotiations are currently underway between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, but the two diplomats might be wise to borrow a play from the Kissinger-Dobrynin detente playbook of the 1970s.