Sometimes, diplomacy is like business. You struggle to get what you consider to be the fair deal, court the buyer and woo the seller, all in the hopes of getting a little better off than you were before.
"Aside from the issues that Senator Kreisen brought up, I think that we have to look at why we should want this agreement in the first place." Haytham said, clearing his throat. There was a muted, but audible grunt as he read over his datapad for a moment. "I would like to put up, first and foremost, that we consider what they have to offer us that we couldn't get or make for ourselves, much more easily? Resources, items, luxuries... it wouldn't hurt to know what they have. But not to sound cruel, or callous, it's just that the formal agreements should be of some use to our government and our people."
"Secondly, I want to be the first to recommend caution in the manner we behave ourselves when dealing with a comparatively primitive culture. My main worry in this respect is that Nepleslian businesses attempt to take advantage of the Azoreans. Colonial problems haven't been a recent issue of our government, but history should form some indication of what we should be careful of. The exploitation and exhaustion of their resources... distribution of potentially damaging substances... crooked hiring policies... illegal immigration and introduction into the slave trade... and the possibility of flooding their markets with cheap, mass-produced goods. Effectively laying waste to an entire local economy and potentially, an entire society."
"Fellow senators, I think it would be best if we thought out the long term implications of our actions on them, and figured out the best plan for both parties."
But most of the time, diplomacy IS business.