cue lennon singing, "--stuck in the muddle with you". good thoughts: and i suppose u.s. foreign policy suffers from the same cultural mass-delusion that has plagued our economy-- namely, that the VIP who ostensibly represents an institution, industry, or nation, can productively "lead the change process"; therefore we tend to focus on brokering strategic alliances VIPs and institutions (Ex: the house of Saud) which, often as not, end up filing for bankruptcy (in the corporate model) or else dissolve into uncontrollable sectarian chaos (in the nation model). but of course: VIPs real core competency is meeting with/being VIP-y with other VIPs, so of course Gelb/Kissinger will suggest a bold strategic meeting with, say, Modhi-- promising, what shall we guess, maybe greater access to cheap iron ore (from australia or brazil) to "pivot" our economic manufacturing dependency away from China, etc, semi-clever sounding bull-hockey. or maybe we promised Modhi we would let India take over Foxconn's line of production. or maybe we promised nothing of substance, and the entire thing was to make VIPs in china jealous/anxious of our very special relationship. anyways: the game of diplomacy, being so played, being at the end of the day just a pseudo-aristocratic ritual/game, does little to protect us/adapt to real change-- and thus it hath been from the age of metternich. although maybe the key personality by which to analyze the u.s. policy elite would be elihu root. blah. huzzah for middling meddling muddlers!
cue lennon singing, "--stuck in the muddle with you". good thoughts: and i suppose u.s. foreign policy suffers from the same cultural mass-delusion that has plagued our economy-- namely, that the VIP who ostensibly represents an institution, industry, or nation, can productively "lead the change process"; therefore we tend to focus on brokering strategic alliances VIPs and institutions (Ex: the house of Saud) which, often as not, end up filing for bankruptcy (in the corporate model) or else dissolve into uncontrollable sectarian chaos (in the nation model). but of course: VIPs real core competency is meeting with/being VIP-y with other VIPs, so of course Gelb/Kissinger will suggest a bold strategic meeting with, say, Modhi-- promising, what shall we guess, maybe greater access to cheap iron ore (from australia or brazil) to "pivot" our economic manufacturing dependency away from China, etc, semi-clever sounding bull-hockey. or maybe we promised Modhi we would let India take over Foxconn's line of production. or maybe we promised nothing of substance, and the entire thing was to make VIPs in china jealous/anxious of our very special relationship. anyways: the game of diplomacy, being so played, being at the end of the day just a pseudo-aristocratic ritual/game, does little to protect us/adapt to real change-- and thus it hath been from the age of metternich. although maybe the key personality by which to analyze the u.s. policy elite would be elihu root. blah. huzzah for middling meddling muddlers!