Roguish Lawyer
03-08-2008, 09:29
He spoke at a lawyers dinner I attended last night. Hysterically funny guy. Like he said he was dumb enough to do a press conference in French one time, was asked what policies of the French head of state he agreed with, and said in French what translates to, "I very much desire the French President in many different positions." LOL
Anyway, the speech obviously focused a lot on the Middle East and other international issues. Nothing new on the ME stuff, but I thought it interesting that he views China as a gargantuan threat to (and opportunity for) the West. He said they are trying to transition about 800 million people from agrarian to industrial life, and that we (the West) need to either engage and help them do it or risk confrontation caused by their drive for this objective.
As for Russia, he said he doesn't know whether to be concerned or very concerned. He said Putin has, in the perception of his people, restored Russia to its rightful place of influence and power in the world.
Interesting that he compared the Northern Ireland situation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He said no one thought there would ever be peace in Northern Ireland either.
I think he got paid like $125K for the speech. Not too shabby, LOL.
Anyway, the speech obviously focused a lot on the Middle East and other international issues. Nothing new on the ME stuff, but I thought it interesting that he views China as a gargantuan threat to (and opportunity for) the West. He said they are trying to transition about 800 million people from agrarian to industrial life, and that we (the West) need to either engage and help them do it or risk confrontation caused by their drive for this objective.
As for Russia, he said he doesn't know whether to be concerned or very concerned. He said Putin has, in the perception of his people, restored Russia to its rightful place of influence and power in the world.
Interesting that he compared the Northern Ireland situation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He said no one thought there would ever be peace in Northern Ireland either.
I think he got paid like $125K for the speech. Not too shabby, LOL.