Monday, February 05, 2007

New vocabulary word: Bouleversement

It's French.
John Burgess used it.
French is the language of international diplomacy. I learned that in school. The reason is that French is more nuanced than English, French words can have subtleties of meaning that English words have a hard time expressing. Good for writing treaties. That's why English (not French) is the language of international business...more exact, with little room for misunderstanding. Good for writing contracts.

After trying to look it up, all I came up with were words like "upheaval" or "reversal," which in context seem too tepid. I like the term FUBAR better. Seems more to the point from an American point of view. He says...

Good piece in Asharq Alawsat about the bouleversement of the Arab world, its attitudes, and alliances. Shobokshi points the finger at the past inaction on the part of Arabs and their governments for the situation in which they now find themselves. Worth reading.


From the article...

...how does one explain that the “enemy” in Palestine is now “another” Palestinian, one who holds a different political opinion? How can one explain the fact that the Lebanon's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora has become the number one enemy for the Islamic resistance, represented by Hezbollah and its followers? How else does one explain Saudi’s new position at the center of all negative implications for Qatar and its satellite channel whilst it openly welcomes, with a smile, the Israeli leader Shimon Peres (the godfather of the first Qana massacre) to Doha? How has Libya’s satisfaction and favorable regard of Chad, Congo and Burkina Faso become more important than the rest of the Arabs? How did the capital of the “Arabs”, namely Damascus become Iran’s prime ally? Is this a state of confused priorities or new and changing convictions?


My question is this:

How many Americans have even a clue about these complexities?

Any?

My guess is that all the kings horses and all the king's men probably don't have much in the way of discernment ....and the king himself has none. Just my opinion, understand.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My English headline, 'World Turned Upside Down', is pretty close to the French, as well as being the pipe tune played by the British at the surrender at Yorktown.