January 24, 2007

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Secretary of Stasis

Ze snarked her out, but I think Condoleezza Rice is at least a little bit right — diplomatic change doesn’t generally come via awesome charismatic dealmaking. In fact, diplomatic change doesn’t generally come at all. Some things just go slow.

Until they go fast.

But it’s rarely a diplomatic deal that’s responsible for the acceleration. At best, diplomacy is the soft warm glow that incubates change. (At worst, it’s the freezer that keeps it on ice.)

I read “Postwar” over the holidays — it’s a detailed but very readable history of Europe from 1945 to 2005 — and it’s amazing how much of the story consists of states just… waiting.

Decades.

And then, everything changes almost literally overnight.