Peaceful diplomacy is the best method of foreign policy

If the city of Hong Kong were a nation, and if its national sport was not ping-pong or badminton, it would certainly be haggling. Aside from being a center for business and exports, Hong Kong is a center of diplomacy. Even the alleyways are filled with diplomacy, matters of convincing others that the only way to get what they want is through a controlled "gateway of desire". Customers want some produce or illegal technology. Shopkeepers want money. The gateways here consist of prices in cash, but the gateways of bargaining nations have tolls in lives. Military "diplomacy" remains the most effective form of foreign policy for nations with powerful armies despite modern ideas, though smaller countries can also survive on the backs of the stronger nations due to a growth in international shared morality.

Hard power, as military power is often called, is the most effective method for large countries to get what they want. Even President Obama, who stressed using diplomacy in the Middle East during his campaign, admits in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech that Hitler could not be stopped with peaceful diplomacy and that al Qaeda is much the same problem. The effectiveness of diplomacy depends on being able to relate with the opponents' ideologies. Even this diplomacy need not apply only to wars. According to Nick Hwang, a Chinese student at Polytechnic School, China's military is often used as a very heavy bargaining chip for economic gains. He believes that China, like the imperial dragon that symbolizes the nation, is only currently appeased by its economic dominance over the world, when many of the other nations serve as serfs. Many people find safety in the idea that the conceptions of the United Nations and "international law" will protect the rest of the world, but as described by the Italian Renaissance political scientist Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince, there are certain priorities countries must follow. The United Nations is effective in many aspects, but not global law, especially when the National Forensics League of America released to US students a debate on how to deal with international criminals. Furthermore, in Rwanda, the UN's "army" could not mobilize to protect the civilians. As Machiavelli puts it, such idealistic and futuristic fantasies cannot override military reality.

Countries that lack the redoubtable armies can also survive The gateways that control the wants of China are easily dominated by China's military power. If China wants something, it can blast through the door. But what of a country like France? If France was the world's sole provider of some sort of new more efficient energy source, China would quickly have it. France, in this case, has a harder time of controlling the diplomatic situation. However, if it fed a small supply of this energy source to America, America would protect it, though nothing stops America from taking over. One idea is that America, being a western power, would feel less of a reason to destroy France for this energy source. In James Cameron's film Avatar, the military might of the humans is countered by the military might of the native Na'vi. In the movie, both sides are incapable of associating with the other alien entities. Jake, in his avatar form, is much like France in that the natives have no reason to really keep him alive. Nonetheless, they save him as a matter of trust. This trust, described by the philosopher Jane English is means enough for helping one another. Because trust is inherently decreased by differences in both culture and military might, the idea allows most small powers to stay competitive because the larger powers tend to be solitary and cannot grow as much alone without fighting a war on all sides. Trust, or fear for that matter, is the key goal of diplomacy. Lack of trust or hatred causes an alienation that cannot achieve anything.

When a tourist from America walks into a Hong Kong market, prices tend to soar because the tourist is a foreigner. He or she can force a low price by threatening to call the authorities on bootleg merchandise, but knows that they are alone and doing so will further alienate them.