Lionel Beehner: Small talk is crucial to US diplomacy with Iran

Last week secretary of state Condoleezza Rice dismissed the Iranians' stalling of nuclear negotiations as an attempt at "small talk". I found this statement ironic, even strange coming from an American. Aren't we, after all, the world's inventors of small talk? Having spent the past few years circling the globe, I have talked up a number of total strangers - some friendly, some not-so-friendly - if only to keep from going batty. That said, I have never engaged in what we would refer to as small talk. Ask a Russian how they're doing and they will tell you about their dog that just died or the job they just lost. "Fine. You?" just sounds too dismissive and curt in many tongues. Idle chitchat, like democracy, cannot be imposed on everyone. Back home, of course, our default conversation topic is the weather - it is the one... [read full story]