I assume Jason's talking about the tendency to overlook the political causes of the conflict and just apply a simplistic 'ancient hatreds' analysis to it.
[WS:] What political causes do you have in mind? Are you suggesting, as Jason does, that the Brits are keen at maintaining the residual of their once great empire (formerly-Great Britain, as one columnist in Baltimore wryly commented) by keeping their grimy paws on the North? I do not find that very convincing, because the North looks more like a liability than an asset - at least from this side of the pond. Especially that the South seems to be doing quite well economically nowadays. And what other than the Brits political causes are there?
Wojtek