We all know how stupid Israeli attempts at problem solving and conflict resolution are in the political/military arena. I have always seen Israeli’s conflict resolution tactics as little more than futile attempts at applying tried and true salesmanship and business principles to the resolution of the local violent conflict.
It really appears as if they are doing no more than applying The One Minute Manager combined with How to Win Friends & Influence People (great books in and of themselves, unfortunately they haven’t yet gotten to The Gift of Fear) in order to create peace with fanatical Islam. It’s ridiculous. But that’s probably why business works in Israel and politics does not.
Here is a great little piece by Barry Rubin (I like his stuff; you can find more of it at gloriacenter.org) on what I would call straight up Israeli Realist common sense:
Let me say it again: despite the mountains of speeches, conferences, articles, committees, foundation grants, projects, currencies of every description and policies expended on it, there is no solution in sight for the conflict. It will continue for decades.
Afterwards read this other piece by Rubin:
ENGAGEMENTS, OF course, have effects other than direct success. One is to buy time for someone. But for who? If one party subverts other states, builds nuclear weapons, demoralizes the other's allies and sponsors terrorism during talks while the other side... just talks, the first side clearly benefits far more.
Then tie them all together with this little tidbit from the economist on the futility of going overboard essentially on problem solving and negotiation:
What this shows is that even with one negotiator having perspective-taking abilities it can produce a better overall outcome for both sides. “You want to understand what the other side's interests are, but you do not want to sacrifice your own interests,” says Dr Galinksy. “A large amount of empathy can actually impair the ability of people to reach a creative deal.”
As a bonus, take a good read of Caroline Glick's interview with the National Review:
The shackled warrior is Israel. Between the Israeli peace movement, the local and international media, the U.N., Europe and the U.S., Israel is both forced to fight the war being waged against it with both hands tied behind its back and to believe that it bears responsibility for the genocidal anti-Semitism that has taken over the Islamic world.
Enjoy the Frankness!
