This week it was announced that pandas will be returning to the National Zoo! Bao Li and Qing Bao, both 2 years old and er... "citizens" of China, will arrive toward the end of 2024. In my 39 years in Metro Washington, D.C. I've always drawn comfort from knowing that the pandas were around the corner, and it was so sad when the last ones left. On a rough day, anyone could click into the "panda cam" to see them rolling down a hill or chomping on bamboo. We're going to need a little panda cam as we move into 2025. 

I'm not sure what went on behind the scenes in bringing our furry friends here, but I don't care. Seems like only yesterday (and today in many parts of town) that we were being taught to see China as the home of "wolf warriors" who wanted to overtake our country. While it's undeniable that there is a threat at some level, and the U.S. must maintain a high level of scrutiny, whose heart doesn't melt when they look into the eyes of a panda? 

The lesson here, I hope, is that some of the global face-offs we face aren't well, hope-less. It seems that at so many levels today, including locally, nationally and internationally, we're looking for reasons to trust other people. Okay, maybe we can't let our guard down 100%, but can't we open the door (or cage) just a bit? Pandas were probably not what Joseph Nye of Harvard University had in mind when he coined the term "soft power," but they are a reminder that diplomacy isn't all about high-powered face-offs over a long table with flags. 

Stewart E. Eizenstat has written a new book entitled The Art of Diplomacy: How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements that Changed the World. There's a foreword by Henry A. Kissinger, and a preface by James A. Baker III. The 12th and final chapter is entitled "Climate Change: The Supreme Test of Diplomacy." I'd suggest a 13th chapter when a second edition is published. He should call it "Pandaplomacy: Let's Be Friends."