Richard Dawkins Quotes
A retaliator behaves like a hawk when he is attacked by a hawk, and like a dove when he meets a dove. When he meets another retaliator he plays like a dove. A retaliator is a conditional strategist. His behaviour depends on the behaviour of his opponent.
Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press, 1976, p. 70.
The US Congress passed the Magnitsky Act which allowed parties to sue in American Courts, Russian companies and individual wrongs committed against Russian Citizens in Russia. (The Russian prison system controlled by some corrupt powers in Russia had killed Magnitsky for exposing some massive corruption of some Russian officials. Although morally justified, legally the act was an interference in another nation’s internal affairs.) The Russians then banned the adoptions which actually hurt them far more than the U. S., but it was a retaliation which to maintain their dignity and sovereignty the Russians felt was necessary. It is an excellent example of the lack of predictability and reaction to various foreign policy moves. Retaliation could take any form, related or not, proportional or not, rational or not.
In politics, people have to make peace and often work with their enemies and cycles of vengeance is non productive and most presiednts are above this in little matters. Donald Trump however carried this to a petty extreme and would spend valuable time trying to exact revenge on even reporters who he thought insulted him or politicians who spoke against him,
Richard Dawkins FRS FRSL is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008. An atheist, he is well known for his criticism of creationism and intelligent design.
