Kieran Healy has a simplistic introduction to geopolitics. Cool graphics though.

We all know the line by now. Iraq is dangerous, but North Korea more so. Iraq apparently is about to be invaded, but the administration says it has no plans to invade North Korea. Isn't this just silly of them?

Unless you bother to note that Iraq and North Korea are different kinds of problems with different kinds of constraints. Let me offer up a couple of examples. I used to work for a lunatic. I solved it by bringing in the law, because that was an effective strategy. I could have bought a Doberman and unleashed it on him, but that would not have been a particularly good option, especially since legal action was more effective in this case. Take a different case. I used to live in a house next to the highway (in Bishopstown, along the linkroad across from the new Dunne's store, if Kieran really wants to know). Teenagers would run across the highway, and jump the eight foot wall next to our house, rather than go around the housing estate. Like my neighbors, I was unhappy about this because at best they left their garbage behind, and at worst, they included the kind of kids who were looking for houses with the owner away. I did not want them jumping the wall and going down my street. I suppose I could have identified them (fat chance) and got an injunction to prevent trespass. And if they ignored it? I could have complained to the police, but the Irish police tend not to take youth crime seriously. Here's a thought. When I saw them crossing the highway (from my upstairs office), I could go out and confront them. I may be an academic, but I am not that stupid. Either I get punched out by kids 30 years younger than me and in a lot better shape, or they walk off and come back at night to break my windows. So here is how I fixed the problem. When I saw them crossing the road, I went downstairs and let out the dog. She is not big, a cross between a Jack Russell terrier and a dachshund, but like all terriers, she is territorial (but also a coward). When the kids would get to the top of the wall, she would see an intruder into her territory from an unexpected place, and started growling. If they kept coming, she would have run, but they did not know that. All they saw was a small (about 25 pounds) muscular dog with ambitions of chewing up their ankle. They stayed away and took their garbage with them.

Different kinds of problems, with different constraints. Different kinds of solutions are required. Why is that such a hard point to grasp?

great example - and an excellent solution.

Ah yes, the terrors of Bishopstown - just as well you're not living in Togher or Ballyphehane, or I'm not sure you would still have a dog...