NATO and Russia’s iPod Diplomacy

ipod_diplomacy0627.JPG Not the first time the iPod’s marketing fame has been deployed for rhetorical purposes. In an effort to convince Russia to tone down its rhetoric over the missile defense issue (and to stop threatening to retarget nuclear warheads at European cities), yesterday NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer appealed to Putin and Lavrov’s pop culture sensibilities. From the Moscow Times:

“In this already fairly complicated discussion, it is advisable to lower the volume a bit,” [Jaap] de Hoop Scheffer said at a news conference. “Because as it is with your iPod, if you put the volume too high, it will in the long run damage your ears.” He added: “If you do that in international diplomacy, you might in another sense damage your ears.”