The final communiqué of the G20 called Russia's aggression a "war in Ukraine." Why are we so lenient with China and India?
The UN Secretary-General is preparing a concession for the Russians under the grain deal. Maybe we should tell the UN to go to hell?
Being offended is the easiest thing to do. But resentment is the way to nowhere. Or to be more precise, it is a path to defeat. You can be offended only when you know that the posture of the offended will allow you to raise the stakes dramatically and win. Otherwise, resentment will only trump the enemy and make life easier for your allies (you are offended, so you don't need us). You need to look for other ways out of the situation, no matter how difficult it is.
The black-and-white world is good in retro movies, but life has hundreds of shades of white and black (it's hard to imagine the number of shades of gray). In my previous book, Politicians Don't Lie, published by Nash Format, there is a separate chapter called "Politicians Don't Take Offense." And there is an example that explains this rule.
And this example is Nelson Mandela, who, after two decades in prison, decided not to hold grudges against white people in order for his country to develop. And two decades after his death, we can see how much smarter and more insightful he was than his neighbor, Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe.
All this is to say that there are no simple answers to complex questions. And we, especially our Facebook bubble, are always searching for the most primitive answers to complex questions. And the answer to this is new disputes. Unfortunately.
About the author: Vadym Denysenko, political scientist.
The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.