Behind the increasing silliness of a tiny fishery dispute getting blown out of proportion there is a serious problem of public discourse in disputes regarding agreements (thread)
https://twitter.com/LOS_Fisher/status/1455952726127489025
At issue in this dispute are a comparatively small number of licenses - important for those who (do not) hold them, but negligible in all other aspects /2
In practice, a short negotiation should have settled this. Or dispute settlement and they decide /3
But we have distorted discourse to such an extent that diplomacy itself is now defeat. "The government has decided to settle the dispute" - a normal and positive note - has become almost unacceptable /4
What is needed is a win. And it cannot be a win-win. No. It must be a win for "our" side and a defeat for "theirs" (whichever side that is). /5
And so the only way to create that space to give diplomacy a chance is to confuse all statistics. Not hard to do, because this is so damn specific that few can tell the difference (because few care enough). /6
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