The Decalogue according to Friedman

(click here for the Romanian version)

Thomas L. Friedman gives us in his NY Times column a very synthetic set of rules for the Mid-East. I’m trying here to make them even more synthetic. That would be the Decalogue according to Friedman:

1. Don’t take as relevant what a Mid-East person tells you privately. They say publicly what they believe (using their language) and privately what you believe (using your language).

2. If you think the shortest distance between two points is a straight line then Mid-East is not the place for you.

3. If you like to be considered as a serious guy in Mid-East, keep any explanation close to the conspiracy theory.

4. Don’t take a Mid-East concession other than from the originator’s mouth – had Tom Friedman so many dollars as many guys told him that Arafat had recognized Israel, he should be a millionaire.

5. Are you a war correspondent, don’t announce a ceasefire in Mid-East; till it’s published it’s over.

6. Extremists in the Mid-East go all the way, while moderates try to go away.

7. The most used moderate expression all over Mid-East is , if you, stupid Americans, were have done... or weren’t have done ... then we would ...

8. Mid-East civil wars are not matter of ideas, rather of tribes. It’s like the American Civil War would have been South against South.

9. The first West priority is democracy - the first Mid-East priority is justice.

10.Humiliation is the most underestimated sentiment when we consider political reasons of the Mid-East countries.