The one thing that sticks out here the most is how little interest regular people from competing powers have in hostility toward other nations' people. And it makes perfect sense. I detest Putin, I distrust the CPC, etc. but recognize that effectively all Russians and Chinese people are just like me, share most of the same values, and want the exact same things.
rmunn [3 hidden]5 mins ago
> .... effectively all (insert nationality here) people are just like me, share most of the same values, and want the exact same things.
In broad strokes that tends to be true, but the details can surprise you. If you've ever worked in a cross-cultural situation with colleagues from other countries and cultures, you'd be shocked at what kind of cultural differences can sneak up on you and catch you by surprise. Differing attitudes towards how much respect to show to one's boss, or the way you should interact with a coworker when you meet them in the hallway, or whether you're culturally required to attend the wedding of your coworker's sister, or send an expensive present, or send a cheap "it's the thought that counts" present, or just send a card.
For example, I once read a blog by an American working in the Japanese auto industry. He talked about attending a meeting where the boss proposed an idea. There was a short pause, then his Japanese coworkers started speaking up: "Good idea, boss." "Yeah, good plan." "Good idea." The American left the meeting thinking that everyone was on board with the idea, and that they were going to do it. His Japanese colleague corrected him (in private), explaining "Didn't you notice the pause?" Sure enough, nobody implemented the idea (because they all knew that the boss had understood the message), it was never brought up again in the meeting (because the boss had, indeed, understood the message), and everyone got to save face, because nobody had had to contradict the boss.
People from other cultures generally want the same things you do. (With some exceptions that can be important). But how they go about it can vary wildly, and it's important if you're going to be working cross-culturally to get someone who understands the other culture to sit down with you and explain the important cultural-conflict points you're likely to run into.
jstanley [3 hidden]5 mins ago
I mean sure but that sounds incredibly minor compared to whether or not the people from the other country want to kill you because you are from a different country.
And the point is that almost universally they don't.
rmunn [3 hidden]5 mins ago
Yes, that's definitely a plus. Even if your countries' governments are officially hostile (or even at war), the people of those countries generally will get along with each other when they happen to meet. (Well, the civilians will). Exceptions do exist, but usually for religious fanaticism rather than political.
For example: my wife and I are Americans living overseas, in a country I won't disclose (on general principles) except to say that it's in a part of Asia where Iranian nationals are rare. About ten years ago we met an Iranian man who was getting the same master's degree that my wife was getting from a local university. We became friends, and although we don't see him and his wife nearly as often now that they've moved to another city, we saw them just a couple months ago when they were back in our (larger) city for a conference. And even though our two countries were officially at war with each other by that time, it didn't matter to our friendship. No awkwardness, no strain, just "Hi (name), I didn't know you were in town," and so on.
Baeocystin [3 hidden]5 mins ago
I grew up in a diplomatic family (parents were US Foreign Service). At the smaller posts, the camaraderie between the different diplomatic families was genuinely much warmer than the cold-war era relations would have you believe. I have good memories of the time.
HN.zip
The line from the article makes it sound like the "Brief History of Time" of Middle East history. Or maybe "Truman".
Having never heard of this book (and not even sure whether it was a book), I turned to Wikipedia, and found:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Fleet
Which includes a brief mention of the book.
In broad strokes that tends to be true, but the details can surprise you. If you've ever worked in a cross-cultural situation with colleagues from other countries and cultures, you'd be shocked at what kind of cultural differences can sneak up on you and catch you by surprise. Differing attitudes towards how much respect to show to one's boss, or the way you should interact with a coworker when you meet them in the hallway, or whether you're culturally required to attend the wedding of your coworker's sister, or send an expensive present, or send a cheap "it's the thought that counts" present, or just send a card.
For example, I once read a blog by an American working in the Japanese auto industry. He talked about attending a meeting where the boss proposed an idea. There was a short pause, then his Japanese coworkers started speaking up: "Good idea, boss." "Yeah, good plan." "Good idea." The American left the meeting thinking that everyone was on board with the idea, and that they were going to do it. His Japanese colleague corrected him (in private), explaining "Didn't you notice the pause?" Sure enough, nobody implemented the idea (because they all knew that the boss had understood the message), it was never brought up again in the meeting (because the boss had, indeed, understood the message), and everyone got to save face, because nobody had had to contradict the boss.
People from other cultures generally want the same things you do. (With some exceptions that can be important). But how they go about it can vary wildly, and it's important if you're going to be working cross-culturally to get someone who understands the other culture to sit down with you and explain the important cultural-conflict points you're likely to run into.
And the point is that almost universally they don't.
For example: my wife and I are Americans living overseas, in a country I won't disclose (on general principles) except to say that it's in a part of Asia where Iranian nationals are rare. About ten years ago we met an Iranian man who was getting the same master's degree that my wife was getting from a local university. We became friends, and although we don't see him and his wife nearly as often now that they've moved to another city, we saw them just a couple months ago when they were back in our (larger) city for a conference. And even though our two countries were officially at war with each other by that time, it didn't matter to our friendship. No awkwardness, no strain, just "Hi (name), I didn't know you were in town," and so on.