The American-European Dialogue

[Sir Taliesin]

Originally posted by Azred: I say it all depends upon the person with whom you are dealing. Sometimes diplomacy works (Carter did a good job with the Egypt/Isreal accord, for example) but other times it doesn't (Chamberlain with Hitler). Try diplomacy first; if the other party doesn't honor the agreement, then you cannot trust them again with diplomacy.

Excellent point Azred! I totally agree that diplomacy should be tried first. In the case of Iraq, diplomacy was tried in 1990. I seem to remember that the UN secretary General making a couple of visits to Iraq to give diplomacy a chance. We later ended up in war. I beleive that Diplomacy was also used in 1998 when the UN Weapons Inspectors were kicked out. I think that diplomacy should be tried again prior to any attack against Iraq. But, I don't think it will work, though. Just call me pessimistic.

[ 09-11-2002, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: Sir Taliesin ]

[Lox]

I wonder what flavor of Brit the author is (i.e. Welsh, English, (N.) Irish, or Scotch)? I too noticed the U.S. slant, especially the last line. (It reminds me of that old joke about the Lone Ranger and Tonto).

I think it was well written, save for a couple of very difficult to parse sentences. I was really enjoying it until that last line. The author had me convinced that he was being fair to both sides of the issue until he let the European say that last line.

Has anyone come up with a good name for people who are from the U.S. The term "American" isn't strictly accurate, as Canadians and Mexicans are also North Americans and Peruvians, Brazilians, etc are South Americans. "United Statesian" doesn't roll off the tounge. Maybe we need a new country name. (/remove tounge from cheek)

[Kaltia]

*laugh* the Berlin airlifts? (near the start)...dear...my country did the same too, including sending little bars of chocolate down on parachutes to children. It wasn't just the Americans, every european country donated something to help rebuild europe-we were flattened after the war. The only country that hadn't been occupied was mine and switzerland (look at it on a map...in a sea of Nazi ownership it was an itty-bitty neautral country in the middle) But let's not go into that, not today.

[MILAMBER]

God!! Threads like this are so fundamentally frustrating. On a person to person basis, I really like Europeans. I love their culture and I love having conversations with them. The only time I ever get into disagreements with them is when talking politics.

I know I'm not as politically educated as Europeans are because honestly as an American I don't have to look beyond our borders very often on a day to day basis. I'd like to think that I notice the big events, but because they don't seem as relavent to my immediate life I might not pay quite as much attention to them as the Europeans would. Taking all this into consideration, I honestly love and respect my country. I feel a great amount of pride in being American. As much as I might like and respect Europeans, I get extremely pissed off when I hear them talking shit about us. Fine, we might disagree on a great many political issues. That's fine! Disagreeing is one thing, disliking an entire country is another.

I wonder, do Europeans think less of me because I'm American? Speaking for myself I honestly don't have any ill will towards Europeans whatsoever. If one of you were visiting over here in California from Europe I would do my utmost to accomodate you in your stay. Hell, I'd even let you stay in my house. Because of my lack of political awareness, I don't see there being a problem between our two cultures. The only time I'm even aware that there is a problem is when I'm talking to someone here or reading posts here about how Europeans are pissed off with Americans. It's like walking into a bar expecting to drink with your buddy's and then getting clubbed in the back of the head by someone who you apparrently liked more than they liked you.

Bottom line: I like all you guys in Europe. I have no problems with any of you. I love my country. I don't necessarily agree with everything my country does, but for the most part I think it's on the right track. Unfortunately I have no direct control over what my country does. Let's not fight amongst ourselves because of things that we can't control.

[T/-/alali]

That is possibly the biggest post i have ever seen!!

[The Hierophant]

[quote]Originally posted by MagiK:

I hope you never have to be involved in a war. There are good reasons to go to war though.

So do I MagiK, so do I.

As for the good reasons, unfortunately I'd be forced to agree with you on this one. It's always a damn shame when one is forced into violence, and I suppose it would make life alot easier if we could just all enjoy fighting and killing so as to not lament it when it occurs... but I guess our more merciful emotions get in the way of this and screw it all up.
When there's war afoot we all remember how precious peace was, when peace abounds we seem to clamour for the security of war. When you scramble your way to the top you have to constantly fight to keep your position there. So in the end is prosperity really worth it if you can never be relaxed enough to enjoy it?
And you're right, there will never be permanent peace among men, not so long as they think and feel.

Doom doom and more doom eh? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Originally posted by MILAMBER: God!! Threads like this are so fundamentally frustrating. On a person to person basis, I really like Europeans. I love their culture and I love having conversations with them. The only time I ever get into disagreements with them is when talking politics. I know I'm not as politically educated as Europeans are because honestly as an American I don't have to look beyond our borders very often on a day to day basis. I'd like to think that I notice the big events, but because they don't seem as relavent to my immediate life I might not pay quite as much attention to them as the Europeans would. Taking all this into consideration, I honestly love and respect my country. I feel a great amount of pride in being American. As much as I might like and respect Europeans, I get extremely pissed off when I hear them talking shit about us. Fine, we might disagree on a great many political issues. That's fine! Disagreeing is one thing, disliking an entire country is another. I wonder, do Europeans think less of me because I'm American? Speaking for myself I honestly don't have any ill will towards Europeans whatsoever. If one of you were visiting over here in California from Europe I would do my utmost to accomodate you in your stay. Hell, I'd even let you stay in my house. Because of my lack of political awareness, I don't see there being a problem between our two cultures. The only time I'm even aware that there is a problem is when I'm talking to someone here or reading posts here about how Europeans are pissed off with Americans. It's like walking into a bar expecting to drink with your buddy's and then getting clubbed in the back of the head by someone who you apparrently liked more than they liked you. Bottom line: I like all you guys in Europe. I have no problems with any of you. I love my country. I don't necessarily agree with everything my country does, but for the most part I think it's on the right track. Unfortunately I have no direct control over what my country does. Let's not fight amongst ourselves because of things that we can't control.

LOL, Milamber you just hit on a universal truth! People individually are fairly nice, it is when you put them into groups that you start getting problems [img]smile.gif[/img]