I was not surprised to hear that the US got Northern Korea off their blacklist. The one thing the country doesn’t need at the moment is more enemies. A lot of east-Asian countries were not amused by the Lehman bankruptcy. These countries are paying much of the debt of the US.

After heroic years where the individual hero could do well for some group but harm others at the same time, we may come to a new era where diplomatic relations will be revalued.

One side of diplomacy and diplomatic relations is about culture. Each country has its own style of being diplomatic:

British diplomats are not alone in maintaining a comfortable and flattering self-image. … diplomats of many other countries rest on similar conceits. An Egyptian might claim that his tradition is one of brokering the pan-Arab view, while offering a bridge between east and west (a role claimed, too, by Turkish diplomats); the Dutch are the hard-headed pragmatists of the European Union; the Singaporeans are the politically incorrect realists; and so on. No one is the bad guy. Everyone believes they are serving the Good. There is a degree of caricature here, but in that caricature lies an uncomfortable truth: that to a greater or lesser degree, diplomats are required to define themselves, to create an identity, in order to function. But for the game to be played, you need a “them”, too. Read the rest of this entry »