Diplomacy is not dead, the world has just forgotten how to use it

Mail & Guardian

a day ago

A satellite image shows the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran in this handout image dated June 14, 2025 (MAXAR TECHNOLOGY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
Last week, the United States launched a large-scale aerial attack on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, dropping 30 000-pound 'bunker buster' bombs on enrichment sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
The Strait of Hormuz has been
.
The question now is not whether diplomacy is dead in the Middle East, but whether anyone remembers what it looks like. And if they don't, we in South Africa should remind them.
Just over three decades ago, our country faced what many believed was an irreversible path to civil war.
Between 1990 and 1994, nearly 15 000 South Africans were killed in
And yet, the leaders of this country – President FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela, men from utterly different histories – chose
dialogue over destruction. Together, they chose peace. They didn't just sign a document, they built the architecture of peace from scratch.
They negotiated an
What is happening now in Iran and Israel has its own unique causes. Since the collapse of the
The US
Israel, seeing this as an existential threat, launched pre-emptive strikes on
The UN Charter, under
If this sounds familiar, it's because history has shown us again and again what happens when diplomacy is abandoned and self-defence becomes synonymous with brutal force.
But force is not policy. Bombs do not build stability. We know this because we have lived it. South Africa's transition succeeded not because we had the perfect Constitution waiting in a drawer or because our society had magically healed. It succeeded because both sides accepted that dialogue was less costly than bloodshed.
They knew that without talks, there would be nothing left to govern. The
But again and again, our leaders returned to the table. They understood that the process – imperfect, fragile, maddening – was more powerful than any one grievance. And this is the same lesson that must be applied in the Middle East.
We must believe that there is nothing inevitable about war between Israel and Iran. Just as the
Yes, Oslo ultimately failed. But its failure was not a repudiation of diplomacy; it was a failure of political courage to sustain it. The same can be said of the JCPOA. It was an imperfect but effective mechanism to prevent nuclear escalation. Iran
complied
. The international community
verified
. But it was unilaterally abandoned in 2018. The current crisis is the direct result.
We know that diplomacy is not a naïve ideal. It is the first principle of international law. The
Under
And we have, over the years, seen other nations learn this.
These were not miracles. They were choices.
What would it take for the Middle East to choose peace? First, open channels unconditionally. Mandela
Quiet diplomacy – through back-channels, third-party intermediaries, or regional platforms – is not weakness. It is how war is prevented.
Second, include all parties.
In South Africa, the ANC, the National Party, the IFP and even fringe groups were eventually brought into dialogue. In the Middle East, that means involving not just the US, Iran and Israel, but also the Gulf States, Turkey and actors like Hezbollah that hold sway over real conditions on the ground.
Exclusion breeds sabotage. Inclusion creates accountability.
Third, restore or renegotiate the nuclear deal. The JCPOA's technical architecture can still serve as a basis for limiting enrichment, lifting sanctions and guaranteeing regional security. The cost of inaction (or even indifference) is far greater than the political difficulty of re-engagement.
Fourth, create guarantees. Whether through the UN or a new regional mechanism, a peace framework must include verification, economic support and political cover for leaders taking risks
.
Finally, appeal to people, not just governments. Leaders must prepare their populations for compromise. In South Africa, that meant referendums, unity talks and mass civic engagement (like the United Democratic Front).
It was not easy. But it worked.
The FW de Klerk Foundation believes in constitutionalism, dialogue and international law. We do not pretend that every context is the same, or that South Africa's path is easily copied. But we do know that peace is possible, even when it seems impossible. That truth is not negotiable. And it is not too late.
Let the world remember that the best outcomes are built not from domination, but from diplomacy. Let the Middle East remember that peace is not the absence of war, but the presence of dialogue. And let the leaders of today remember that if Mandela and de Klerk could forge a new country from the ashes of division, then surely, even in the rubble of conflict, nations can find a path back to peace.
Ismail Joosub is Manager of Constitutional Advancement at the FW de Klerk Foundation.