There is a very intersting piece in a recent edition of the Guardian.
As Timothy Garton Ash writes a "surprising number of people still harbour the illusion that our leaders know what they are doing. Well, some of the time, some of them do. But if you meet them, you will often be horrified at what they don't know. And you will be amazed how superficial, arbitrary and personal can be the grounds on which they make world-changing decisions. Most readers may not be startled to learn that about George Bush, but it applies to others too."
This leads to what Garton Ash calls the Law of Putin's Eye. It states that the less a leader knows about a given foreign country, the more likely he or she is to judge it on the basis of personal impressions of the individuals in charge of it at the time - and therefore to misjudge it.
So on the one hand you can be concerned as to how your leaders interactions with each other is based so much on personal prejudice.
On the other hand when you are stuck in a legal dispute or a tough mediation and part of the problem may be linked with your own actions, take heart you are in supposedly esteemed company.
Justin Patten, Mediator