Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 13,2009, during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Her daughter Chelsea is at left. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)From Yahoo News/AP:
WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that she intends to revitalize the mission of diplomacy in American foreign policy, calling for a "smart power" strategy in the Middle East and implicitly criticizing the Bush administration for having downgraded the role of arms control.
At a daylong confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for secretary of state sailed smoothly through an array of non-contentious questions until two Republican committee members pressed her to take additional steps to ensure that former President Bill Clinton's global fundraising work does not pose even an appearance of conflict with her role as the chief U.S. diplomat. She balked, saying disclosure rules already in place were carefully crafted and adequate to avoid any conflict.
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My Comment: Global solutions. Diplomatic cooperation. International consensus. Diplomacy and respect. Global this ... global that. Using "soft power", "smart power" over "strong power" and .... I guess ...."dumb power".
I have lost count on how many times I have heard these cliches in my life. And while this is all noble and good .... the reality is that much of the world operates from a different playing field.
The political, economic, and social culture of the United States and its western allies are completely different from the rest of the world. A tribal Taliban leader in the mountains of Pakistan/Afghanistan has a different moral, social and cultural background that is alien and unacceptable for the typical American. The same can be said about him when he looks at our culture.
The same can also be said about a Somali fisherman/pirate, a Sunni leader in Anbar province of Iraq, a mullah in Tehran, a Russian in Siberia, a Chinerse peasant with his first factory job in Shanghai, an Indian living in the mountains of Bolivia, etc. etc. etc.. We are all different with different beliefs, behavior, culture, history, and political institutions. The leaders and politicians of these countries reflect this altitudes .... they are who they are. And they are very different from us.
To expect that much of the world will readily accept Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's view of how the international world order should function is delusional at best .... insane at worse. I like to believe that they know this, and what is said in public is solely for the American public to consume. That what they are doing is appealing to our better angels and to our belief that we know best.
But while we may know what is best for ourselves .... we do not know what is best for everyone else. When the U.S. has historically resorted to using soft/smart power on the world scene .... we have always been dissapointed and filled with regret. The reason why is simple .... there is no incentive for the other side to accept our philosophy and viewpoint. Diplomacy .... as well as being nice, generous and reasonable can only go so far.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is going to find her job filled with pitfalls and dissapointment .... and she does not take dissapointment kindly. Does she share the same liberal viewpoint of the world as Barack Obama ... I will have to say yes. Both have the mentality of the liberal 60s .... and are of the strong belief that this ideology will be successful if applied to the world scene. Hmmmm ....they have the opportunity to make this work in the next few years .... and I can only wish them luck because they are going to need it.
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