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Article: Why Bush's gestures carry heavy warnings; In the world of high diplomacy, even handshakes have meaning. Trevor Royle examines the US President's hasty world tour
- Article from:
- The Sunday Herald
- Article date:
- June 8, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 The Sunday Herald. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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All eyes were on Air Force One as it swooped into Geneva airport
in advance of last week's G8 summit. President Bush was only going to
spend a few minutes in Switzerland and a mere 24 hours at Evian in
French territory and the marine helicopters were already whoop-
whooping their impatience to get their precious cargo across the
lake. Within the hour the long-awaited handshake had been made with
President Chirac. For those looking for diplomatic signs it was not a
bad salutation - no wet-fish swipe but a cool grip with reasonable
eye contact.
These things count in the world where Bush does his business with
his fellow leaders. There are rewards for those who are already on-
side or need to ...