Stardate 20020717.1234

(Captain's log): Christopher writes:

"Our good friends in Europe still insist that everyone has to deal with Arafat."

What I don't understand is the link between "Arafat is the leader which the Palestinian people elected to represent themselves" and "therefore we must deal with him". (ignoring, for the moment, the legitimacy of Arafat's mandate from the people.)

What's unreasonable about saying that the Palestinians get to choose who they want to represent them, and we get to choose who we talk with, and if the Palestinians don't pick someone that we'll talk with, then that means that they don't want to talk with us. And if not talking with us is not conducive to attaining their goals, that's their problem.

I think it derives from what is sometimes called "the Great Game". Individual politicians and strong men work up through the minor leagues within their own countries until they qualify for the major league: International Politics.

I think there's a certain feeling of obligation and entitlement: anyone who manages to dominate their own nation has earned the right to play in the Great Game, and to refuse to deal with them is, well, cheating. Ungentlemanly. Gauche. It Just Isn't Done.

It's preposterous, of course. This isn't a game; it's life and war and too damned important to play by silly rules as if it were a soccer match where the outcome wasn't important. As a practical matter, no-one can force us to deal with Arafat if we (the US) don't want to. But this is the latest in a long line of what are, I think, perceived in Europe as acts of Bush the uncivilized cowboy, who just doesn't play by the rules because he's too stupid and unsophisticated.

It's sort of like eating with your fingers at a formal dinner; it's a sign of being uncouth. It's unrefined, uncultured. It's scandalous. It's just so lower class. Proper Gentlemen Just Do Not Act That Way.

The cultivated Europeans are trying to cue us boorish Americans as to proper behavior so that we don't embarrass ourselves in public when we're with our social betters.