Getting past a Binary Perspective

[Rob Thornton]

P.S. There are two possible universes that exist right now, the one in which I click send and the one in which i don't. We can discuss this entry in the universe that just collapsed, but I won't own up to posting the entry.

I almost fell out of my seat laughing - because its true on my end as well. I'd also say that some times the thought I sit down to write, is not the one I end up writing - kind of like talking over a beer. When I sat down to write the start of this thread, I was headed down the road of considering the "object in view" from the perspective of anyone who thought they had a stake worth protecting, or saw an opportunity worth pursuing. It could be the ME or it could be elsewhere - its politics.

Ken mentions 20 years, but I think as long as we believe we have a stake in the outcome, and have the resources to affect that outcome, we will remain engaged (in some fashion), and so will other folks. It may wane at times as more important things come up, or as choices about resource allocation have to be made, or it may wax for the opposite reasons.

I decided to change the focus of the thread (starter) because while we tend to try and reduce complex relations down to "us" and "them", I don't think I've seen us frame it in terms of only "us" or only "them" - we do at least recognize there are more then one part to a relationship. That got me to thinking about how we try and find solutions to things that have an interactive nature and are constantly changing and realigning. I wondered if the two things were related.

If you acknowledged that there are at any one time a number greater then two (even if one or two are more important at any one time then any of the others),then would you be more likely to see something as a condition that must be managed with some measure of consistency vs. something that can be solved and put back on the shelf?

I understand that that does not lend itself to good domestic politics, but it might lend itself to better implementation of policy. In my view, if we think that we can have bilateral policy with no regard for regional context, or focus on a region with no international context, then you are probably going to get some nasty surprises, and you are probably going to come up short.

Best, Rob

P.S. - I'll get the first beer, but it looks like I won't make the next one unless it slides right.