In the analysis of one industry it is not uncommon to find trends and patterns that span a diverse range of completely disconnected markets.

This week’s trend not only applies to a variety of industries, it also applies to our everyday lives and interaction with people all around us. It is the desire to impress. Be it the attention of a new manager at work or the special attention of a member of the opposite sex, all ofus, to differing degrees, at some point or another, have had the desire to impress and have acted on it with hugely varying results.

This desire, when left unkempt, can wreak havoc in the world of public relations. A company’s choice of PR representation is a decision based almost wholly on personal interaction and compatibility and what services they are offered compared to other agencies. In this highly competitive and ever changing industry, sometimes the only way to really set yourself apart from these other agencies is to promise more services and at better prices. While this formula seems simple enough, the downfall comes when this ever mounting pressure on agencies causes them to promise solutions and offer services that they are unable to deliver. More and more agencies are falling into this trap and are leaving clients disgruntled and utterly dissatisfied. For when the spell has lifted and the fog has cleared, clients are right back at what they started with; the same basic PR services, but with some added disappointment.

This desire, when left unkempt, can wreak havoc in the world of public relations. A company’s choice of PR representation is a decision based almost wholly on personal interaction and compatibility and what services they are offered compared to other agencies. In this highly competitive and ever changing industry, sometimes the only way to really set yourself apart from these other agencies is to promise more services and at better prices. While this formula seems simple enough, the downfall comes when this ever mounting pressure on agencies causes them to promise solutions and offer services that they are unable to deliver. More and more agencies are falling into this trap and are leaving clients disgruntled and utterly dissatisfied. For when the spell has lifted and the fog has cleared, clients are right back at what they started with; the same basic PR services, but with some added disappointment.

But who blames them? Taking an outside look at the way agencies perform in front of clients and the list of promises made to them, it is no wonder that the majority of companies, once scorned, will take a cynical approach to their next agency. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice – it’s time for yet another agency change.

It is clear that gone are the days of life long bonds between a company and their agency, it has now become a hot-potato game of ‘Who’ll catch the client next?’. Agencies hover like vultures over trade publications waiting for a slip-up from an agency so they can jam their foot in the door of disappointment and say “See how your agency messed up? We promise so much more than they could do!”. Now don’t get me wrong, if one day you pick up a newspaper and see bad press on a company and you genuinely think your agency or your strategies could have prevented/foreseen/managed the crisis better than it has been, by all means put forward your agency as a better alternative. But if you think that by watering the seed of doubt regarding a companies loyalty to their agency to win an account will be a long lasting contract, think again.

When studying markets and industry trends, we often overlook that these companies, countries, economies and laws, are all governed by people. You can follow the chain of command up as high as it will go, you will still just find a person. There is no omnipotent power or invincible being in the CEO chair! This oversight is especially destructive in the world of PR. A person’s interpersonal and social ability are what deciphers between successful, respected PR consultants, and factory-bred PR execs. Your ability to converse openly and provide honest, solution-based advice to your clients is key to maintaining their trust and loyalty to your agency. You must be confident in your techniques and have a willingness to air your views at any level required. After all, it is our unbiased and external view of the perception of a company and how we best believe we can get a company to how it wants to be perceived, that are the reason companies hire PR agencies at all.

"Watching from afar is what I do. It's what the world has become especially good at. We watch unjustifiable invasions and occupations from afar with a distantly sympathetic eye and an indifferent heart."

Admittedly, I’ve never been one for getting my feet wet in the political paddling pool. Politics bores me and governments irritate me. When wars are declared and lives are terminated on the whim of a creature as imperfect as man, I find my interest strays to more substantiated topics. Watching from afar is what I do. It’s what the world has become especially good at. We watch unjustifiable invasions and occupations from afar with a distantly sympathetic eye and an indifferent heart.

The recent massacre of Lebanese civilians in their own homes by the Israeli army is the most current attraction on the world’s proverbial stage.. Images of burning bodies and figures of child fatalities is enough to effect even the most apathetic of us. The recent butchery in Qana which saw over 50 sheltering civilians murdered of which 37 were children has quite honestly pushed me over the edge.

Fifteen days into the crisis, the reason as to the start of the attacks is often overlooked. Let us not forget that the Israeli’s, holding Lebanese prisoners (amongst others) captive, justify their actions towards Lebanon due to the provocation of having two Israeli soldiers taken hostage. Apparently gone are the days of ‘an eye for an eye’. They have somehow absolved themselves of blame with the age old ‘you started it’ excuse, but have not even managed to get that right.

As an Arab-British national I have both East and West instilled in my veins, and so am doubly ashamed at the complete lack of intervention from both of my countries. The choke hold that America and Israel have over the rest of the world has never been as apparent as it is now. Bush’s verbal diarrhea at the recent G8 Summit and Blair’s ever-pressing need to please his American puppet-master, coupled with their complete indifference to the suffering of the Lebanese people is proof enough of the kind of men that are in control of the world today. When Saddam was “terrorizing” the people of Iraq, the US were “morally obliged” to send in troops to “free” the oppressed nation. The Lebanese, however, do not have the luxury of vast oil fields to entice the western world into growing moral consciouses. Governments are falling over themselves with ‘outcries’ against humanity, but when it comes to following their words with actions, the US has everyone running scared. Laughable attempts at meetings of the Arab nations and the European Union, and UN peace talks have, unsurprisingly, yielded no results. The ever-present UN is showing its complete lack of power and control over any hostile situation with Kofi’s dispassionate “um-ing” and “er-ing” proving, once again, what a waste of time the United Nations really is. The Arab countries have once again proven that fear of US consequences and lack of dam (blood) is dividing what is potentially the strongest collection of nations on earth. Their continued fear of the west and their gutless pressurized US/Israel- peace treaties leaves me as ashamed to call myself British as it does to call myself Egyptian.

The painful timing of these strikes has hit Lebanon during a time when they are most vulnerable. Israel is not only targeting the people of Lebanon and its infrastructure, they’re also targeting its economy. Lebanon relies heavily on the tourism industry and the economic upkeep has become dependant on the influx of tourists and money during these summer months. Destruction of economies on this scale takes decades to repair, and Lebanon had only just got back on its feet from the war in ’82, another of the many scars that Israel has inflicted on its neighboring countries in the past twenty years.

The one question resounding in my head and fueling my annoyance is WHY IS NO-ONE HELPING? Why are the Arab countries not assisting the Lebanese people? Why are they not supplying defensive arms to the resistance movements? Why is there no intervention on ANY level? Israel is not just targeting Hezbollah militants or Shiite muslims. Civilians of every religion and denomination are being murdered in their homes, and still no-one is stepping up to lend them a hand.

In my honest opinion, Hezbollah’s resistance to Israel’s bullying tactics should be commended; Lebanon’s refusal to accept Condaleeza into their territories, applauded. Israel sits like a wolf amongst the lambs incessantly terrorizing and bullying its poorer neighboring countries. Hezbollah’s strength and overall resistance to continual US oppression is an example that more Arab armies and resistance groups should follow. We’ve watched the Palestinians throw rocks against the Israeli (American) tanks to defend their homes for the past decade. Now it’s the turn of the Lebanese to fall under the heavy hand of Israels persuasive tactics. But they’re not going down without a fight. Israel can sit behind its borders and fire its American rockets into Lebanon, but put them face to face with Hezbollah’s army, and it’s the Israelis who are retreating to their borders every time.

My point is clear and my frustration apparent; Israel have illegally, immorally and unjustifiably begun this massacre on innocent, civilian lives, and no-one, not Arab, Western, Muslim, Atheist, Black or White, is stepping up to help the people of Lebanon out. And my messages to the “leaders” of the world? Governments; get off your back sides and force an immediate ceasefire. Israel; stop this incessant, unwarranted destruction of your neighboring countries. Arab leaders; help your brothers out, stand together and unite. Bush, Blair and the UN; just go home.