Quote Originally Posted by J. Robert DuBois View Post
I've sat in the sand and the mud of a dozen nations, sharing meals from a communal pot, and enjoyed the five-star accommodations of a dozen more.
I've taken a somewhat different approach... 30 years with the sand and mud (ok, more dust and mud) of a single less developed and conflict-ridden country. Some differences in perspective perhaps. Regarding this one...

"We must use what has been called smart power – the full range of tools at our disposal - diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural - picking the right tool, or combination of tools, for each situation. With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy."
... it sounds wonderful, as non-specific motherhood statements generally do. The devil, as always, is in the details. In any given case, our determination of "the right tool, or combination of tools" is likely to be driven primarily by the prejudices and interests of the individuals and institutions making the determination. All too often these determinations are reached with grossly insufficient understanding of the complex interplay of factions, interests, competitions, and infinite detail that prevails in the environments we seek to influence. Above all we suffer from an apparently overpowering urge to see what we want to see and believe those who tell us what we want to hear. As a result, Americans are often stupidest when we seek to be smart.

Wilf's "me shoot-um heap big many bad guy" approach may sound a bit neanderthal, but it has at least the virtue of knowing what it seeks to accomplish, and how.

It's very easy to sling words like "smart power" around... actually using power intelligently, in the sort of environment where we need to do that, is a whole lot more difficult.