Monday, April 30, 2007

Column:

The Far East and the Middle East.

Two ends of the earth, disconnected from each other culturally, religiously, philosophically, no similarity at all in language, tradition or style. And yet, there is a major connect between the two in two significant arenas.

Diplomacy and big business.

When it comes to the fine arts of diplomatic nuance and big business, the Far East and the Middle East are both significantly misunderstood by the United States of America. And that is no small matter.

In the mid '80's I read an essay penned by a Harvard sociologist about how difficult it is to understand the Japanese. It seems that the Japanese have so very many different ways of saying the word "yes" that they even often say "yes" when what they really mean to say is a resounding "no." Anyone not intimately connected with Japan would have to be confused. Imagine someone who "merely" spoke the language. Better yet, imagine someone who did not at all speak the language and was totally reliant on an interpreter for dialogue and information flow.

When it comes to business, commercial, diplomatic and cultural exchanges in the Far East and in many parts of the Middle East, the United States is plagued by the inability to fully absorb both the spoken and the unspoken context of their interactions. Not only governmental agencies, but also private companies doing business are at risk.

Much literature has been written to aid business people who embark on trade ventures in the Far East. The idea is to help these entrepreneurs overcome the problem of miscommunication in societies where simple language is simply not enough to totally understand a situation. In Japanese, for example, often the most salient or significant point in a discussion is left off the end of the sentence. The Japanese often leave off the detail or the reasons or even sometimes the point of disagreement. They are not trying to play outsiders as fools, it is rather a part of the culture of Japanese dialogue. One could - and people often have, left meetings assuming that both parties were in total harmony to later find out that the meeting had been totally ineffectual, that there were no points of agreement, that in fact the two were at odds with one another.

It happens with people who know the language and it happens with people who act as translators, too. During the deficit negotiations between the United States and Japan the US negotiators constantly complained of never understanding what Japan meant by saying "yes." When a translator is giving only the official translation of the spoken word negotiators are rendered ignorant of the true nature of their own interaction. They are presented with only a partial picture of a situation that is replete with crucial unspoken dialogue. And that happens when everyone is in a room together, looking at each other, trying as best as one can to size up the situation. Reading an officially translated document or transcript of a meeting provides even less information when dealing with certain cultures.

It is difficult in Japan and it is just as difficult in the Middle East. There are Arabs and there are Persians and there are Shiites and Sunnis and Alawites, all with their own nuanced cultural behaviors and language.

In Arabic as well as in Persian traditions, like in the Far East, the concept of hospitality is a primary value. Being rude or mean or dirty is frowned upon. Being rude often means expressing opposition to another's concept or business plan. It is just not done in formal settings, it is not expressed in formal language. Unless they are accompanied by or represented by native speakers, Americans are at a disadvantage when engaged in dialogues that contain double, triple and quadruple messages.

In the greater Arab world, secularists are discounted by the masses. In order to reach the masses, the language of choice has become a language steeped in religious terminology. Persian, as an example, is a culture and a language teeming with apocalyptic terms and symbols. That does not mean that Iran does not want to destroy Israel and the West - it does. But it also means that this use of language is part of their everyday dialogue and has been since they split off from mainstream Islam and is not only notched up for our benefit. There's more. The Shiite army is called the Mahdi Army. Mahdi is the Shiite messiah.

Negotiating foreign policy under these circumstances is daunting, to say the least. It is virtually impossible to communicate any point in most Arabic languages without invoking the name of Allah or using other religiously infused language. Uninformed, culturally ignorant, foreign United States representatives face challenges that are totally unaware of. Our society cannot and does relate to that language.

The result is a huge synapse. The result is the belief by the United States that promises are being broken, when in fact, those promises were never made. The result is ill will and animosity.

Neither the Far East nor the Middle East will change their ways. The only power capable of change is the United States. If anything is to change the United States must understand and learn more.