Zakaria: No Nuke Deal? Don't Just Blame Tehran

TIME

BY FAREED ZAKARIA

In the end, John Kerry put it best. "It takes time to build confidence between countries that have really been at odds with each other for a long time now," said the U.S. Secretary of State. A deal between the West and Iran over its nuclear program is still possible--talks resume on Nov. 20--but the breakdown of talks in Geneva made a tough challenge even more difficult.

In diplomacy, transparency is often the enemy of progress. Negotiations are best conducted secretly until there is an agreement. When carried out in full public view, the process simply allows opponents to attack every concession made to one side, paying little attention to the concessions to the other. Even imagined concessions get attacked. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu furiously protested against the proposed deal with Iran even though, as Kerry suggested, he didn't actually know what was in it. Ironically, it is to prevent just this problem that Netanyahu has insisted that talks between Israel and the Palestinians take place in strict secrecy.

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