I think the crux of the matter was that if we were going to become partners in for example the International Space Station we had to gain the respect of a country like the United States and particularly its space organization NASA.
I always said that if I could just find a guy who could chop wood and had a nice smile it wouldn't bother me if he was a thug or an aristocrat as long as he was a good guy. And I've ended up with an educated thug.
