{"id":4911,"date":"2010-01-15T13:36:09","date_gmt":"2010-01-15T17:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/?p=4911"},"modified":"2012-12-26T21:51:51","modified_gmt":"2012-12-27T02:51:51","slug":"its-just-so-complex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/international-relations\/01\/15\/its-just-so-complex\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s Just So&#8230;.. Complex!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the Know: Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex:<\/p>\n<p><center><object width=\"480\" height=\"430\"><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/themes\/common\/assets\/onn_embed\/embedded_player.swf?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theonion.com%2Fcontent%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2FNIGERIA_STILL_NEW.jpg&#038;videoid=67135&#038;title=In%20The%20Know%3A%20Situation%20In%20Nigeria%20Seems%20Pretty%20Complex\" \/><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/themes\/common\/assets\/onn_embed\/embedded_player.swf\"type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowScriptAccess=\"always\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" wmode=\"transparent\" width=\"480\" height=\"430\"flashvars=\"image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theonion.com%2Fcontent%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2FNIGERIA_STILL_NEW.jpg&#038;videoid=67135&#038;title=In%20The%20Know%3A%20Situation%20In%20Nigeria%20Seems%20Pretty%20Complex\" wmode=\"transparent\"><\/embed><\/object><\/center><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve ever had a conversation with a semi-literate Westerner about foreign policy, development, or international relations who doesn&#8217;t want to admit they know nothing about the above subjects, the conversation typically will go like this:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A: What&#8217;s troubling is that development organizations had the chance to fund infrastructure projects in Haiti for several decades that would have minimized the impact of the earthquake and facilitated relief efforts.<\/p>\n<p>B: It&#8217;s pretty complex.<\/p>\n<p>A: &#8230;&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s pretty complex&#8221; provides the blanket response for those outside critical knowledge or analysis of the subject, which is typically followed up by vacantly interjection on sectarian\/ethnic\/tribal\/regional\/gender\/corruption\/cultural divisions to explain their empty platitude:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A: The primary failure in the rebuilding of Iraq has been the failure to redistribute available resources and provide mass employment, thus leading to significant rent-seeking outside of traditional spheres.<\/p>\n<p>B: It&#8217;s pretty complex, because Shiites and Sunnis have not liked each other for years and we got ourselves into this mess.<\/p>\n<p>A: &#8230;..<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Of course, it&#8217;s pretty complex is the ultimate trump card for the American &#8220;liberal&#8221; who doesn&#8217;t want to feel guilty about the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, but also never wants to get into a serious discuss about the ramifications of a theocratic Jewish state:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A: The fundamental problem with a &#8216;Jewish&#8217; state is that it is Jewish-only, meaning Palestinians who have rightful claims to property and livelihoods are being systematically cleansed from their own country.<\/p>\n<p>B: Yes, I feel sort of bad, but it&#8217;s just so complex.<\/p>\n<p>A: &#8230;&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If you want to see this in action, bring up any of the following topics with White People: Foreign aid, corruption in Africa, sources of resentment in the Middle East, globalization, socio-economic inequality, the Sudanese genocide, Israel\/Palestine, the development of post-Soviet Eastern Europe, why poor people vote for Republicans, the brutish reality of capitalism, or the functionality of the United Nations. It&#8217;s guaranteed that within minutes of discussion, &#8220;it&#8217;s complex&#8221; will be made as a valid point.<\/p>\n<p>For great examples, see: <a href=\"http:\/\/andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com\/the_daily_dish\/2010\/01\/israels-attitude.html\">Israel&#8217;s Attitude<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marginalrevolution.com\/marginalrevolution\/2010\/01\/why-is-haiti-so-poor.html\">Why is Haiti so poor?<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/cominganarchy.com\/2010\/01\/14\/a-bit-of-realism-please\/\">A Bit of Realism Please?<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/obsidianwings.blogs.com\/obsidian_wings\/2010\/01\/by-eric-martin--this-excerpt-from-phil-bobbitvia-charli-carpenter-the-newest-lawyer-with-guns-and-moneyis-animportant-con.html\">If It&#8217;s War You Want&#8230;<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.progressiverealist.org\/blogpost\/how-win-war-terror\">How to Win a War on Terror<\/a>, or anything written in the <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonpost.com\">Washington Post<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/slate.com\">Slate<\/a>, or <a href=\"http:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\">Foreign Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>[tags]foreign policy discussion, it&#8217;s complex, it&#8217;s complicated, the onion, video, israel\/palestine, foreign policy, international development, international relations, haiti, earthquake, foreign aid, relief, iraq, middle east, dialogue, dialog, Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex[\/tags]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the Know: Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex: If you&#8217;ve ever had a conversation with a semi-literate Westerner about foreign policy, development, or international relations who doesn&#8217;t want to admit they know nothing about the above subjects, the conversation typically will go like this: A: What&#8217;s troubling is that development organizations had the chance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[259],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>It&#039;s Just So..... 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