uninvolved in a difficult argument or struggle
(by extension) having an affectedly nonchalant or mature attitude about a dispute seen as petty; aloof
Source: en.wiktionary.orgOne of the more pretentious political self-descriptions is 'Libertarian.' People think it puts them above the fray. It sounds fashionable, and to the uninitiated, faintly dangerous. Actually, it's just one more bullshit political philosophy. George Carlin
Vidal is determined to be a) in the thick of things, and b) above the fray. He knows everybody and he doesn't want to know anybody. He has had lovers by the thousand while doing 'nothing. Martin Amis