I would guess that the OP means realpolitik. Where there is power, there is corruption. Smuggling currency is a very (very) common hobby. Horse-trading (influen

I would guess that the OP means realpolitik. Where there is power, there is corruption. Smuggling currency is a very (very) common hobby. Horse-trading (influence for money, trade deals for extradition, taking in inconvenient "no longer enemy combatants" in exchange for influence or money), etc, is a daily thing. To survive and thrive you need to think about practical considerations more than ideals or principles. Take this point about Pakistan's nuclear fuel. First, it's a bit odd that we countenance a nuclear program in Pakistan, a muslim country that has been involved in several border wars, but a nuclear program in Iran or Iraq is grounds for invasion. The reasons for that, what looks like gross hypocrisy, are many. The Pakistani diplomat wasn't objecting to the removal of the fuel per se, but how it will play in the local media and politics. That may or may not be bullshit, and perhaps beside the point. Or maybe its not. No one, not even the diplomats know everything. There are always plans within plans and forces at cross-purposes and idiots who value expedience over long-term planning. Western folk tend not to have internalized this point of view. Taken too far it leads to paranoia, but I wouldn't mind a slightly larger dose of "reality" in the thinking of the average US voter.