约翰·科尔是特朗普总统新提名的总统人质事务特别特使——他正是这一职位所需要的资深交易达成者。无辜的美国人仍囚禁在伊朗、俄罗斯、中国和阿富汗的牢房中，参议院必须毫不拖延地批准他的任命。生命悬于一线，而科尔已证明他懂得如何打破外交僵局。科尔策划了那项利用制裁减免和经济激励、从白俄罗斯确保数百名囚犯获释的协议，获释者包括多名美国和盟国公民。
John Coale is President Trump’s new nominee for Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs — and he is exactly the master dealmaker the job demands. With innocent Americans still languishing in prison cells in Iran, Russia, China and Afghanistan, the Senate must confirm him without delay. Lives are hanging in the balance, and Coale has already proven he knows how to break the diplomatic gridlock. Coale masterminded the deal that used sanction relief and economic incentives to secure the release of hundreds of prisoners, including numerous American and allied citizens, from Belarus.
利用此类工具解救美国人质和被错误拘留者并非新举，然而美国外交官因人质谈判中缺乏“道德对等”而陷入瘫痪，不敢动用这一工具箱。本可——也本应——达成协议将美国人带回家，却被搁置一旁，迫使被错误拘留者在国外牢房中遭受的痛苦远比必要时长得多。讽刺的是，交易条件从未变得更好。我们最终仍不得不使用这些完全相同的工具——交换囚犯、制裁减免或经济激励——来确保他们获释。
Using such tools to free American hostages and wrongful detainees is not new, yet American diplomats, paralyzed by the lack of moral equivalence in hostage negotiations, hesitate to dip into that toolbox. Deals that could — and should — be made to bring Americans home are left on the table, forcing wrongful detainees to suffer in foreign cells far longer than they should. The irony of it all is that the deals never get better. We ultimately end up using these exact same tools — trades, sanction relief or economic incentives — to secure their release anyway.
我比任何人都更清楚这一点。我的兄弟，一名美国公民，于2018年在伊朗被错误拘留。到2021年，桌面上已有一项潜在协议，可通过囚犯交换和在严格金融监管下转移冻结资金，确保他和其他四名美国人获得自由。这正是最终于2023年将他带回家的同一框架。同一个交易，却白白多耗了两年痛苦时光，让他在臭名昭著的埃文监狱高墙内多度过了两年。
I understand this better than anyone. My brother, an American citizen, was wrongfully detained in Iran in 2018. By 2021, a potential deal was on the table to secure his freedom and that of four other Americans through a prisoner trade and a transfer of frozen funds under strict financial oversight. It was the exact same framework that ultimately brought him home in 2023. Same deal, but with two more painful years needlessly lost behind the walls of the notorious Evin prison.
这就是为什么选择约翰·科尔——一位将谈判视为“赢输”概念的律师——是恰当的。受受托责任约束，他的唯一焦点是服务委托人。在本案中，委托人就是特朗普。无辜美国人的生命攸关，他的责任与特朗普深度致力于保护的事业相一致。
This is why the selection of John Coale, a lawyer who has viewed negotiations as a win-loss concept, is appropriate. Bound by fiduciary duty, his only focus is serving his client. In this case, that client is Trump. With innocent American lives at stake, his responsibility aligns with a cause Trump is deeply committed to protecting.
如果他与白俄罗斯达成协议、确保数百名被拘留者获释能说明什么问题，那么科尔履行特使职责时将秉持零和博弈思维。我们要么对人质谈判抱着盲目乐观的态度，任由无辜的美国人在外国牢房中枯萎、死去；要么像科尔展示的那样，动用一切可用手段，将他们带回家。明斯克空荡荡的牢房最终证明，交易型现实主义行之有效。
If his deal with Belarus to secure the release of hundreds of detainees is any indication, Coale will approach his role as envoy with a zero-sum mentality. We can either be pollyannish about hostage negotiations and let innocent Americans wither and die in foreign jail cells, or we can use all available tools, like Coale has shown us he is willing to, to bring them home. Ultimately, the empty prison cells in Minsk prove that transactional realism works.
科尔将成果置于僵化意识形态之上，为美国治国方略勾勒出一张新蓝图——这张蓝图牢记国家最根本的责任，就是把本国人民接回家。内达·沙尔吉是埃马德·沙尔吉的妹妹，埃马德·沙尔吉是美国公民，2018年至2023年在伊朗被错误拘留。她同时担任詹姆斯·W·福利遗产基金会董事会成员，该非营利组织致力于为美国人质和被错误拘留者发声。
By prioritizing results over rigid ideology, Coale has laid down a new blueprint for American statecraft — one that remembers the state's most fundamental duty is to bring its people back home. Neda Sharghi is the sister of Emad Shargi, an American citizen who was wrongfully detained in Iran from 2018 to 2023. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for American hostages and wrongful detainees.