Internationale Beziehungen in fünf Minuten

Foreign Policy - How to Get a B.A. in International Relations in 5 Minutes

A wise friend of mine likes to say that most of international politics can be summed up in three words: fear, greed, and stupidity.We've already covered the first two (anarchy and the balance of power are about fear, and free trade is about the benevolent effects of greed). But the third one -- stupidity -- is equally important: you can't really understand international politics and foreign policy without recognizing that national leaders (and sometimes whole countries) frequently misunderstand each other and often do remarkably stupid things. [...] You won't remember all these details five years from now, but keep this lesson firmly in mind: the people in charge usually don't know what they are doing.