Tyrion Lannister: Defensive Realist
If there were a moral Lannister -- even a conflicted Lannister, not obsessed by the family's security dilemma -- it would be Tyrion. Though he is alone and vulnerable, Tyrion is surprised to be taken hostage by Catelyn Stark. He doesn't assume conflict in the international system, and tries to signal to Catelyn and her daughter Sansa, futilely, that his family's drive for security isn't a zero-sum game. Though speakers of the House do not usually influence foreign policy, they play the game of thrones more than any other politician in Washington. The House is still a monarchy; there is the Speaker, and then there is everyone else. But that absolute power depends on a heaving throne of dissatisfied committee baronies - baronies whose domestic politics make this Speaker naturally cautious and open to compromise. The elaborate game of signaling chicken with the White House also shapes his policies. At the end of the day -- on the debt ceiling level, on the fiscal cliff -- Boehner will make sure he is on the winning side.
