STATESMANSHIP

Statesmanship is, in my view, one of those things that is very difficult to define, but you know it when you see it.

Two very different forms of statesmanship were on view in Ireland this week. First up was the Queen, trying to heal almost a thousand years of difficult history between the English mainland and the island of Ireland. Her style, as always, is not to say very much (so no chance of a gaffe), to make a few shrewd gestures and visits, and to look elegant. 60 years of experience have taught her to keep her trap shut; politicians the world over should take note.

She was followed by President Obama, visiting his ancestral roots on the way to a G8 summit. His style on such occasions is to be a regular guy, drinking Guinness in the local pub, thanking the local people for their contribution to America, saying that the country's terrible economic problems can be overcome if everyone pulls together. Platitudinous words in the hands of most politicians, but he manages to sound sincere, and so make them inspirational.

Both visits were judged to be a great success and rightly so. Interestingly, both wowed their hosts by throwing in a few words of Gælic (a note to all foreigners, trying to appreciate the local culture goes down well with the locals). Even more interestingly, the two masters of their craft will be meeting each other soon, since the President will take in a State visit to the U.K. as part of his European tour. I would love to be a fly on the wall; not at the State banquet with the great and the good, but when they have a cup of tea together, on their own.

Walter Blotscher