The Unpredictability of International Relations

I was reading the NYT's this morning, and I found an article about the perceived actions of China in the South Pacific. The country of focus was on the small island of Fiji. The article pointed out that since this small nation was incurring the wrath of both its former colonial master, Great Britain, and raising the eyebrows of both Australia and New Zealand, it was turning to China as an alternative. The gist of the article was simply that there is a great deal of "mis-readings" on China's, and for that matter Fiji's, intentions.

I found the article an excellent example of just how unpredictable international relations can be until actions are demonstrated. For example, I had read about the Chinese government is making attempts to quell much of the recent diplomatic ruffling of feathers between both countries over things such as currency, the trade imbalance, sales of arms by the United States to Taiwan, and the perceived confrontation between the militaries of both the U.S. and China in the Pacific. All are clearly very valid issues. But none of them are good indications of the future state of things. If anything, these issues mentioned above should be treated seriously, but not as a gauge of some future war. After all, according to the article, the president maintains a portrait of the Queen of England near his desk. Which, according to the article, sends the signal that the relationship between the Fiji and the U.K. isn't totally lost.