“Diplomacy can fail 700 times, but it is the 701st time that counts.” These words resonate deeply, especially in moments when the geopolitical stakes are high. As John Hume once said, “When people are divided, the only solution is agreement.” This truth holds when diplomacy faces its toughest challenges, and it is in these moments that true leaders must step up to bridge the divide between powerful actors.
On March 5th, 2025, the eyes of the world turn to President Trump’s State of the Union address, following a high-stakes diplomatic confrontation at the White House. A historic and public exchange unfolded between the U.S. superpower and Ukraine, a conflict that transcends closed-door negotiations. The world witnessed a diplomatic tussle on live television, and it sent shock waves across the world.
While such diplomatic tension is not new, what makes this moment extraordinary is the openness of the confrontation. Words that President Clinton spoke to Netanyahu in 1996, were echoed by President Obama, who had once used to express frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in 2011, “Someone has to remind him who the superpower is,” now echo as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer finds himself at the center of this diplomatic crisis in 2025. Starmer faces history’s greatest challenge: guiding the world away from the brink of a new Cold War, safeguarding the Western alliance, and, most critically, preserving the international order since World War II.
The Preceding Geopolitical Context:
To understand the urgency, we must reflect on the events before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s February 28th, 2025, visit to Washington. Starmer, tasked with bridging the transatlantic divide, must ensure that the unity of the Western alliance endures.
Zelensky’s visit, a spectacle of heated exchanges, witnessed intense moments between President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Zelensky. The atmosphere was charged with criticism and vitriol, but these moments of tension are not unusual in diplomacy, and history teaches us that resilience often emerges after failure. As the Irish statesman Eamon de Valera put it, “Diplomacy can fail 700 times, but it is the 701st time that counts.” This resilience is critical in moments of diplomatic breakdown.
Walking the Second Mile: A Biblical Principle for Diplomacy:
Zelensky, a devout Christian, understands the biblical principle in Matthew 5:38-48 to “go the second mile” in the face of adversity. Despite being harshly criticized and likened to a dictator, Zelensky remained steadfast in his commitment to dialogue. Even in the Oval Office, amidst provocation, Zelensky exemplified diplomacy by choosing engagement over retaliation, reflecting the biblical call to transcend immediate provocation with humility and resolve.
His choice to continue diplomatic talks, despite personal and national struggles, highlighted Ukraine’s fight for survival and sovereignty. Zelensky’s appearance in traditional Ukrainian attire the vyshvanka was more than symbolic. It was a defiant statement of national identity, underscoring the broader struggle for Ukraine’s Sovereignty and unity. This cultural and historical symbolism was intentional, as Zelensky’s outfit evoked Ukraine’s deep-rooted sovereignty and resistance to external aggression.
A History of Strained Relations
The Ukrainian crisis has long been entangled with U.S.-Russia relations, stretching back to the Cold War. The broken promises and stalled negotiations since the Soviet Union’s collapse continue to haunt today’s diplomatic landscape. From James Baker’s infamous assurance that “NATO will not shift one inch eastward,” to NATO’s subsequent expansion, the story of Ukraine’s geopolitical struggle is intertwined with broken trust, shifting alliances, and rising tensions.
The 1999 NATO enlargement despite assurances marked a critical turning point. As NATO moved closer to Russia’s borders, Moscow’s strategic fears intensified, setting the stage for the Russian intervention in Ukraine. The world, then, watches with skepticism: Could NATO’s expansion have been a miscalculation? In Fukuyama’s theory, it was the end of history, and the last man, but for all practical assertions, the miscalculation was a choice to want Ukraine to join NATO.
America’s Diplomatic Crossroads
The United States has long been the world’s beacon for diplomacy, from shaping the United Nations to securing global peace after WWII. Yet today, America stands at a crossroads. Under a transactional leadership model, the U.S. is navigating a dangerously divided international system. It is now up to leaders like Keir Starmer to act decisively and preserve peace. It will be Trump’s greatest challenge, but also greatest opportunity.
As Prime Minister of the U.K., Starmer’s legal expertise in human rights positions him uniquely to broker diplomatic solutions. With Britain’s deep ties to the U.S. and Ukraine, Starmer can offer a balanced approach, ensuring both sides are heard, and that diplomacy, not war, prevails. This requires transcending political divides and embracing practical, thoughtful solutions.
What Went Wrong?
The current impasse in diplomacy reveals a fundamental misalignment of priorities. While President Trump views foreign policy through a transactional lens, Zelensky’s perspective is one of national survival. For Ukraine, diplomacy is not a bargaining chip it is a matter of life and death. In the Oval Office, the tension escalated when Vice President Vance dismissed Zelensky’s earnest queries about the U.S.’s commitment to Ukraine. Zelensky’s poignant question whether American diplomats had truly understood Ukraine’s suffering was misinterpreted as ungratefulness. Yet, this was a candid call for the West to honor its moral duty to Ukraine.
Zelensky’s directness, though uncomfortable for some, was a necessary reminder of the human cost of the war. Diplomacy must be based on mutual respect. This was a moment where the diplomatic language of decorum could have alleviated the rising tensions and preserved the opportunity for meaningful dialogue.
What About the Russians?
It is easy to blame Moscow for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but this issue requires historical context. As early as 1670, the German monk Innokenty Gizel wrote that Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians shared a common ancestry, descended from Japhet’s son Mosoch, the name from which Moscow derives. Understanding this historical bond provides important insight into Russia’s geopolitical claims and its sensitivities surrounding Ukraine’s sovereignty. The rise of modern Russia, particularly under Vladimir Putin, is a reaction to NATO’s eastward expansion a promise broken, and a betrayal that Moscow has struggled to reconcile.
As the West continues to wrestle with Russia’s aggressive stance, it is important to remember the delicate balance between European security and Ukrainian sovereignty. The world finds itself in a geopolitical gray zone, where Moscow’s actions stem from historical grievances, but these cannot be used to justify aggression. However, the fact of Ukraine Russian relations remain with the Ukrainians and Russians themselves. Telling this unruly history to modern diplomats and historians sounds hard, but necessary. The actors, concepts, interests and reasons for the Ukraine-Russian war, how they affect today’s world are within the annals of post-World War two, and post-cold war era. So, the world watches in a gray zone, the rift between Russia and the West, and the division rising between Europe and Washington over Ukraine. Over two US administrations and a number of European leaders had been so focused to expanding eastwards, rock them, roll them, until the bear folds, could have been the strategic focus of presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton, together with their European counterparts, Jacques Chirac, Vaclav Havel, Helmut Kohl, Tony Blair, John Major, Francois Mitterrand, Gerhard Schroder, plus a number of NATO secretaries and Baltic leaders. Can Europe and Ukraine make it without the United States? America’s military mighty and strategic niftiness remains the true deterrent, balance power and the cornerstone of NATO and European Security, if all goes to shove, the world will be entering the rise of new history and the new manifest, in which the post-World War two order as we knew it could come to an end. Washington needs to consider how it can achieve the peace in Ukraine, how it can engage Moscow, with sufficient consideration of Ukrainian sovereignty, its complex, actually very.
The Path Forward:
Max Delbruck, the Nobel laureate in physics, once said, “The negation of any simple, correct statement is a false statement; but it is the hallmark of any deep truth that its negation is also deep truth.” In geopolitical terms, this truth translates into the tension between competing imperatives: the West’s commitment to its allies in Eastern Europe and the need for engagement with Moscow.
This dual imperative supporting Ukraine while ensuring stability with Russia requires patience and precision. Diplomacy must be timely, and wise leaders like Keir Starmer must prioritize nuanced engagement. With a legal background and commitment to international law, Starmer offers the wisdom necessary to prevent irreversible decisions and guide the West through these dangerous waters.
The challenge ahead for President Trump and his advisors is to craft a diplomatic policy that is not based on televised rhetoric, like “this will be great for television”, but on strategic foresight. The stakes for global peace are high, and it is through careful diplomacy that the West can avert a larger conflict.
Ceasefire Talks in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In a significant move towards resolving the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio led high-level discussions with Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 11, 2025. These talks aimed to establish a framework for a potential 30-day ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. The absence of Ukrainian representation in earlier U.S.-Russia negotiations had raised concerns among Ukrainian and European leaders. However, the Jeddah meeting marked a pivotal step in involving all relevant parties in the peace process. The discussions underscored the United States’ commitment to a unified Western approach, emphasizing that any lasting peace solution must include the perspectives and agreements of Ukraine and its allies. While the ceasefire proposal awaits Russia’s response, the Jeddah talks have been lauded as a crucial advancement in international diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
A New Manifest Destiny?
When John O’Sullivan coined the phrase manifest destiny, in early 19th century, suggested that the US should expand westwards, beyond the pacific and beyond. His philosophy was taught deeply by Samson Msemembo in modern history at St. Francis De Sales, Morogoro when he said, according to Sullivan, the US had unquestionable right, a self-asserted providential mission that will project the values of Republican democracy across the American continent, and beyond, and according to believers of manifest destiny, that is God’s divine choice on nations of mankind. The S.B Msemembo is an exceptional expert in history. so, when the Canadians elected a new prime Minister who immediately began tough talking against Trump tarrifs, I knew that won’t play well. Uncle Sam didn’t like it one bit, and immediately the Trump administration responded by doubling the 25% tariffs on Canadian goods to 50%. What the Trump administration needs to know, patriotism is a conviction in which someone believes his country is the best in the world, and this conviction is with the Canadians, Icelanders and folks from most parts of the world.
As we enter this new era of diplomacy, the road ahead will require unity, dialogue, and resilience. The ultimate goal should be peace not only for Ukraine but for the world.
As President Obama once said, “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something.” We are at the crossroads of history, and diplomacy remains the most powerful tool for peace.
The eyes of the world are upon leaders like Keir Starmer and upon all of us. Now is the time to act. Together, let us walk the second mile in the pursuit of peace and toward a better future for all.
Novatus Igosha is an advocate of the High Court of Tanzania and an international affairs contributor to Tanzania Digest. Mobile: +255747130688 Email: norvum728@gmail.com
