Article

2009-04-16 Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Gheit: WeŽll work with Israeli govŽt, just not with Lieberman

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Posted by Fred 2009-04-16 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 Israel can refuse to work with Egypt, too. It's not like they're good for much except hosting pointless talks between Hamas and Fatah, and pointless negotiations about the captured Schalit. Egyptian Foreign Minister Gheit is posturing for effect.

Posted by trailing wife in Buffalo 2009-04-16 09:15|| 2009-04-16 09:15|| Front Page Top

#2 While Lieberman has a good attitude, he is incautious.

An important concept of Realpolitik is that you never, ever say what you really think. It achieves nothing, and can give away much.

Two very good tales of such discretion are first William of Orange, who got his nickname, "William the Silent" (in one version), after listening to a friendly nobleman explaining a complex international situation to him on a hunting trip for hours without saying a word.

Shortly afterward, this nobleman learned that William was the known as the preeminent expert on the subject, but had allowed him to chatter on about it, for inscrutable reasons.

Another example was a high ranking Russian Admiral, who achieved the top rank by mumbling so incoherently, he could always claim he had been misquoted. He thus avoided the pitfalls that eventually took down his peers.

Posted by Anonymoose 2009-04-16 10:40|| 2009-04-16 10:40|| Front Page Top

#3 Egypt has enough street cred with the Arabs, and enough diplomatic cred with all the proper-thinking people, that a rupture with the Gyptos would not be a good idea. Though I otherwise agree with TW, they aren't much good for anything else.

Posted by Steve White 2009-04-16 10:48|| 2009-04-16 10:48|| Front Page Top

#4 The most important aspect of realpolitiks, Anonymoose, is "never play the other fellow's game". Israelis have had enough of "Peace Process", and mealy mouthed international mediators.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2009-04-16 11:32|| 2009-04-16 11:32|| Front Page Top

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