HOSTAGE DIPLOMACY???

Amidst rising tensions between superpowers, the reported exchange of American seven-time All-star NBA player Brittney Garner with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is reminiscent of the Cold War era. Such furtive exchanges, made popular in spy fiction by British author John le Carré, were commonplace at the famous ‘Check Point Charlie’ on the Berlin Wall.

Background

While the proposed exchange may give an inclination of the direction that global politics are headed towards, such hostage-taking is nothing new. 

Standoffs involving hostages once served as a ritualistic diplomatic tactic for governments like Iran and North Korea. For global powers like Russia and China, which were more ingrained in the world order and stood to lose out economically and politically if they violated the laws of engagement, they were less frequent. The beginning of a hostage diplomacy case starts like any lawful conviction -the State arrests the foreigner on some pretext, they are detained and then formally charged. It ends with the State negotiating for the prisoner's release through diplomatic and economic concessions. In most cases, they are legally considered detainees but function as hostages.

Brittney Griner, the two-time Olympic gold medallist, has been detained since February 17, when two vape cartridges containing trace quantities of cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. As part of a prospective agreement with Russia to free Griner and corporate security director Paul Whelan, the U.S. offered to trade the convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, accused of conspiring to kill Americans in Columbia. Viktor Bout was arrested in March 2008 through a sting operation in Thailand by undercover US DEA agents posing as FARC rebels. Bout claimed that the sting operation was a frameup and that he had never intended to harm U.S. nationals. He accused the trial of being politically motivated and pleaded not guilty. The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed that the United States had made "a substantial proposition" but did not elaborate or name anyone.

The deal to barter Brittany Garner in exchange for Viktor Bout has raised many brows within the international community. Nicknamed 'The Merchant of Death' for his expertise in the illegal arms trade, he is known for his extensive connections in the underground network of illegal arms with a footprint in almost all hot spots of the world. Alleged to be working closely with the Russian Special Services, Bout has been linked with Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and to anti-West groups like Taliban and Hezbollah.

The Russian government requested that Vadim Krasikov, a convicted killer, be included in the proposed swap in response to the United States' initial offer. The request was communicated by Russian officials earlier in July, although over an unofficial backchannel. The U.S. initially questioned its validity due to the mode of communication.

Analysis

Hostage diplomacy has raised concerns in the U.S. that it may expose thousands of Americans to risk. Since the United States is the third-most populated nation in the world and has the biggest economy, many of its citizens are constantly inside the borders of other countries, especially hostile ones, making them unusually susceptible to hostage diplomacy. There isn't much you can do to stop another country from using hostages as diplomatic leverage.

Precedence already existed when former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed (arrested in 2019 for assaulting Russian police officers) was traded in April for convicted drug dealer Konstantin Yaroshenko, serving 20 years in federal prison.

Why does Russia want Viktor Bout back? Over the years, there has been speculation of Viktor Bout working in the interest of Russian officials and infiltrating high-profile cases within the U.S. With his network of weaponry contacts globally, across multiple areas of conflict and strategic interests, this assumption is highly likely to be true. In these dangerous times, Viktor Bout is a good asset for the Russians to keep as an ace up their sleeve.