Cover of The Godfather (Widescreen Edition)Read related » N. Korea Says Won't Hit Back Over S. Korean Drills
[This related article is recommended in its entirety.]
“YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – South Korea's military staged live-fire drills from an island just miles from rival North Korea's shores Monday, despite Pyongyang's threats of catastrophic retaliation for the maneuvers. […], but the North finally said it would hold its own fire.”
— Published December 20, 2010 | Associated Press (foxnews.com)
Read related » The Godfather (Signet) [Paperback] Mario Puzo (Author)The dictatorship of North Korea may be crazy, but it ain't stupid. Is it, however, as smart as Mario Puzo's Godfather? I think not.
[This related book is recommended in its entirety.]
“The abuse itself bothered him not at all. Hagen had learned the art of negotiation from the Don himself. "Never get angry," the Don had instructed. "Never make a threat. Reason with people." […] An agreement was reached but two months later the strong-arm was shot to death in his favorite barbershop.” [emphasis added]
— The Godfather, Page 57.
The nut jobs in North Korea, as well as their counterparts in Iran, are vicious unpredictable braggarts who make threats on a regular basis that must be carefully considered. Ultimately, however, they weaken their positions vis a vis their adversaries, for failing to heed the Godfather's good counsel, as indeed do many other national "negotiators". They weaken their positions because they forfeit a goodly amount of that very valuable commodity in warfare — the element of surprise. And they do this, presumably, for the sake of winning the much less meaningful pissing contest.
There is one notable exception of a nation that understands the relative values of pissing contests and existential warfare. The leadership never publicly threatens their enemies. They just do what is necessary to survive.
Survival isn't everything. It's the only thing.
Post 1,516 The Art of Negotiation
No comments:
Post a Comment