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Fairy Dust

Why does "international community diplomacy" = Fairy Dust?

I believe it is because we've lost sight of the fact that Diplomacy *is* War.

We think it's not war, that it's something different and civilized. When we don't understand that diplomacy isn't making *nice* but that it's a projection of force rather than persuasion... it's no surprise that it is so ineffective.

Comments

Ymarsakar said…
Diplomacy is where you try to plant a dagger in the other guy's back without anyone knowing about it, including your left hand.

War is about declaring formal dueling rituals/traditions, and getting it all out in the open for everyone to witness.
1:34 AM
Ymarsakar said…
So in this war of ours, we have combined subterfuge/diplomacy/deception/assassination with war.
1:34 AM
Ymarsakar said…
I made this analogy before at Neo's page, where I wrote that there are two main kinds of diplomacy as practiced by diplomats and warriors. Specifically, you can negotiate as you would negotiate in an Arab bazaar over the price of your purchase. Essentially you will haggle until you believe you have a good price and the other side believes that they have a good price. This model of diplomacy is believed in by the UN and other fakers and incompetent idiots, as the primary tool by which differences are resolved without violence.

The other school of diplomacy faces negotiation as another kind of warfare, essentially meaning that one person wins and the other person loses. In such a framework, the rules are different than for haggling.
5:33 PM
Synova said…
When one is haggling the buyer and the seller both want the same thing... before they start.

The seller wants to sell.

The buyer wants to buy.

The problem with international diplomacy isn't getting people to do what they want to do, it's getting people to NOT do what they want to do.
11:30 AM
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