Another example of the perils of doing business, or politics, abroad.
First lady’s handshake with conservative Muslim raises Indonesian eyebrows | The Upshot Yahoo! News
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
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About Me
- Anthony J. Avallone
- Professor of Management at Berkeley College, teaching Online.
3 comments:
I believe this situation is deliberately being negatively publicized. Many Indonesian citizens already have negative opinions regarding the United States and the press targeting this lapse in judgment is not helping. Yes, I think someone on the President's staff should have been responsible for notifying Michelle of the customs, but for the information minister to blame her was disrespectful. Also someone on their staff could have alerted the First Lady to the customs. Again, I think it’s pathetic that this issue even made it to the news.
Maybe it's me, but I feel like Michelle and Barack are being made examples. Since the beginning it was a race thing and those opposed to having a black president are strategically trying to make them appear unfit for the office. I don't believe the same scorn would be received if it were Laura Bush.
Obama and Michelle spent time in the Indonesia hoping to improve ties with the Muslim world, opening up opportunities for American businesses. Unfortunately, there was nothing that really mentioned about how that went in the article. Instead seemed more important to focus on the fact that a culturally unacceptable handshake occurred. If it was not acceptable for Michelle to shake hands with this man, then why did they let her get on the "handshake line"? She was right in the middle of it so it was bound to happen. I understand that if you do not understand peoples cultures, it is easy to accidentally offend them, but the key is accidentally. If the intention of her handshake was vicious, then it would deserve to be spotlighted, but it wasn't.
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