International Relations 101: Superficial diplomacy and retail incentives lure foreigners to the U.S.

Diplomacy is not about results; it’s about process. The New York Times captures this spirit in its article on President Bush’s Middle East talks scheduled to happen in Annapolis next week with many world leaders, including a comprehensive coalition from the Middle East. The article begins by explaining Syria’s contingencies for attending and goes on to name the factor that convinced Saudi Arabia to attend. The inclusion of comments from world leaders attending focuses on the protocol—who merits a handshake and who will not receive such civilities—and only later in the article is there a mention that the importance of this meeting will not be for actual progress made but for the appearance of a willingness to make progress in the future.

Another article in the World section piqued my curiosity. I was surprised that the article on the postponement of the Lebanese presidential vote did not say more about the Annapolis talks. It mentioned that legislators in Lebanon expect it will be easier to choose the next president after the talks next week, but did not say why.

Perhaps it's due to lingering resentment after spending the first half of this year in Europe, but this Boston Globe headline really gets to me: "With dollar low, US is one big outlet." The article touches upon the economic reasons underlying the weakening of the dollar with a timely, Christmas-shopping-season spin. It emphasizes which shopping centers the tourists are coming to visit--mainly the outlets in Wrentham and Freeport, Me.--but it also gives the sample itineraries of a few Irish women who justify their flight and hotel expenses for the ridiculously good bargains they intend to find. Just twist the knife a little more, thank you. I suppose I'll still do my part to keep American retailers saturated with Americans' money this holiday season.