When I was fresh out of college, I had an Economics degree from Stanford. I was put in charge of the sitework (utilities, roads, bridges) for a waterfront land development. I didn't know shit! I knew a blueprint had blue printing on it ... that's all.
I learned quickly ... in my estimation ...
So, there was this electrician on the job. His name was Riley Johnson. Riley had an artificial leg and used to walk around the job slapping his artificial leg with a heavy piece of copper tubing. People that didn't know his leg was artificial would think, "Wow, that is one tough dude!"
Riley took a liking to me (I think). He became my ... checkpoint ... to ensure I wasn't going off on some stupid tangent. One day I had a problem. In it's own way the problem wasn't unlike the problem we have as a nation. Riley provided the solution ... after the fold ...
My problem was that the drywallers couldn't do their job because the carpenters had screwed up the walls because the concrete guys had poured a bad foundation. And even worse, the concrete guys claimed they weren't at fault because the carpenters and drywallers were no good at their jobs.
I went to Riley Johnson. Riley imparted to me the wisest interpersonal knowledge I've ever heard. I told him I had this problem where everyone blamed the other guy in a circular way. Riley gave me the perfect answer. It worked on a construction job and it will work on an international platform. What did Riley tell me?
He said,"Call a meeting tomorrow at 2PM. Invite the concrete, the drywall, and the carpentry contractors to a meeting at the site of the problem. But DON'T tell any of them the other guys will be there. Then, you be 15 minutes late to the meeting. When you arrive at the meeting just say, 'Alright guys, what's the problem here.' Then shut your mouth and listen."
Riley told me that, by being 15 minutes late, and all the finger-pointing parties meeting unexpectedly, they would understand they had to cover their butts. With me being 15 minutes late, they would already have negotiated a way to resolve their circular blame-game. I didn't have to do that ... they did. All I had to do was say, "Okay, what's the problem here." ... then listen.
A similar solution is possible for our foreign policy. What prevents Obama from calling ... say India and Pakistan ... together and saying, "Okay, what's the REAL problem here ... you guys aren't so dumb as to throw nukes at each other ... what's it take to smooth this out?"
Maybe I'm naive. Maybe Riley Johnson was wrong. How tough are our problems?
Mr. Obama, I can put you in touch with Riley Johnson. :-)