Is diplomacy our LAST resort?

So at last a group has come together to try to solve the problems in the Middle East. I thought this would be the sort of thing that should happen before a nation decides to go to war. At times I wonder why they even taught us diplomacy in college- is it so we know exactly what we shouldn't do? Was it a waste of time for me to study international relations, since being diplomatic seems to be something the "real world" doesn't do or take seriously? Maybe I'm not getting the big picture here. Is it really a question of either putting one's own nation's interests before trying to have good relations with other nations? Or have leaders just not reached the point where they can learn to reconcile the two (which in fact, I do see as going hand in hand!)?

Now we are back to square one- but this time we have our wings clipped off. This is exactly what should have been discussed before sending troops to Iraq and loosing thousands of lives on both sides. Whether they were troops, children, mothers, fathers... it doesn't matter, everyone is innocent in a way- either they aren't fighting or they are legitimizing it by being convinced that they are defending a cause. I thought leaders would've considered every single option before engaging the lives of others in the affair. Making a regime change in a completely foreign country, oceans away, with an extensive history, a different culture and world view is not a piece of cake. Primarily however, it isn't something that can be done unilaterally. With being a super power comes responsibility- you can't be arrogant about it, you have to work with the world so they can begin to respect you.

It is now that leaders in America are starting to realize that you can't just "talk to your friends, you have to talk to your enemies too" in order to get anywhere. Unfortunately, the administration wasn't even talking to their friends when this all started. The warnings from the friends were shunned or they were humilated and the so-called enemies were demonized even more. Why? Well, it's considered weak to talk to ones enemies, but how else can you get anywhere? It seems that now the US is cornered and has no way but to follow the diplomatic route- it is too bad that it had to take this long for them to realize that, but at least we know we are coming close to the end of this nightmare.

Issues in the rest of the Middle East will now get more attention- especially the Palestinian/Israeli issue which had seemed to be heading toward a dead-lock. I'm glad that peace will at last be given a chance - it's really all it needs and there are plenty of people out there who are prepared to help support it, whether it's getting there or the healing that will have to take place afterwards to reach a positive peace. The light at the end of the tunnel seems to be a bit brighter now that we are beginning to be a little more diplomatic.