A Deal With the Devil In the high-stakes world of international relations, there is a term that captures the essence of strategic manipulation without the target's awareness: finessing . It is the art of getting your way while the other party believes they are getting theirs. It is not coercion. It is not overt force. It is something far more subtle and far more devastating when the bill comes due. Over the past eighteen months, the Gulf states: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab