A cat, for instance, is much more dexterous with its paws than a dog. This dexterity fascinates cat lovers, who also cite the cat's legendary standoffishness as proof of its mental superiority.
German standoffishness toward the EU is now based in law: a 2009 ruling by Germany's Constitutional Court allowed it to ratify the Lisbon treaty but limited further transfers of power to Brussels.
Something else we noted in one of the towns that had been freed from Iraqi control was that the local people, who are Kurds, greeted the Kurdish fighters as well as the American soldiers with no standoffishness at all.