Giving the Face-Saving Option
A face-saving option. Giving one to the enemy doesn’t come naturally. It can feel abhorrent. But sometimes, it is the smarter move. Richard Haass in his book, The World , talks of two such examples. The first one is how the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 was defused. Yes, the US insisted that Soviet missiles be removed from Cuba. But they also gave the Soviets something in return – they removed their own missiles from Turkey. And the US declared publicly declared that it wouldn’t invade Cuba (if the Soviets backed out). Technically, they needn’t have made either “concession”. But doing so gave the Soviets a face-saving option: the Soviets could spin the Turkey aspect as a win domestically; and the not-invading-Cuba-declaration as a signal to the world that the Soviets didn’t hang their allies out to dry. Why did the US give the face-saving option? Because the alternative was unknowable and thus dangerous. For example, a complete loss of face could have led to a domes...