Big bad John
Writing by treason on Tuesday, 31 of May , 2005 at 7:14 am
Tony Snow wrote it. Senator John Kerry, when speaking at a rally in Seattle, said it. Governor Bill Clinton, campaigning for president in 1992, told an audience: “Teddy Roosevelt once said that we should walk softly and carry a big stick. Today I want to talk softly and carry Ohio.” Gerald Ford, in 1981, reacting to the Soviet arms buildup, said it, too. Just about everyone says it.
But in a letter written in 1900, a year before he became president, Theodore Roosevelt wrote, “I have always been fond of the West African proverb: ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.’ ” He repeated the line in a speech in Chicago in 1903, and twice again in his writings after that. Every time he used the quote, he said, “Speak softly.” That was his approach to foreign policy, and it defined America’s role in the world. Some call it “Big Stick diplomacy” - when international negotiations are backed by the threat of force. Hmmm. Sounds a little like Ronald Reagan. When Moammar Qaddafi played the bully, we quietly dropped a bomb on his house. And he’s been relatively quiet ever since.
And here we are now, arguing over John Bolton and his qualifications to represent the U.S. in the U.N. We assume that diplomacy calls for a moderate tone. A soft voice. Speak slowly, speak softly - don’t wake the bears. No one on the other side thinks John Bolton could play the diplomat because he doesn’t whisper. He yells at people, dontcha know.
It’s another case of hard power versus soft power. Seduction versus coercion. Win their hearts and minds - don’t go in there and hit them over the head with a sledgehammer.
Some say we should influence the world through our ability to get what we want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. We must make the case for the attractiveness of our country’s culture, political ideals, and policies. That’s a problem. We are at war with people who hate our culture and they’re not going to change their minds about it. Frankly, a lot of Americans aren’t too smitten with our current culture, either. But strip away the blatant commercialization, rampant consumption, “sex sells” as religion, and the in-your-face Americanisms that spread across the globe, and we are basically a good group of people. September 11 showed the world and each other that we haven’t completely lost our decency, compassion, generosity, kindness, and hope. Our system of government isn’t perfect, but who’s got a better idea?
America stands for certain policies and ideals. When our policies are seen as legitimate in the eyes of others, our soft power is enhanced. When we can persuade others to admire our ideals and want what we want, we don’t have to spend as much time, energy, money - and even lives — to move them in our direction. Seduction is always more effective than coercion, and many values like democracy, human rights, and individual opportunities are deeply seductive. So we went into a part of the world that knew only tyranny, and believed that the people yearned to be free. They will run into the streets with flowers for our troops! They will adopt our way of life and abandon centuries of barbarism! Because, dammit, our way is just better!
And, in a way, much of this is true. Afghanistan is moving forward after five thousand years of turmoil. Iraqis showed us that the right to vote was seductive enough to pull them out of the safety of their homes and to the polling places to make a difference. It’s not the Iraqi people who are resisting change. There’s a group of people in the world who want to see us fail. If we win, they lose power. Some people think it’s a war of religions. Religion plays a role, but what’s really at the heart of this is power and control. If individuals have freedom, they have the power, the control. They make the choices.
Battered women stay in abusive relationships. When asked why, they say they had no means of escape. I didn’t know how to drive. I didn’t have a car. I had no money. I couldn’t support my kids. I wasn’t smart enough to get a job. I didn’t know I could leave.
But once a woman educates herself and sees that she has options, then acquires the tools to change her situation, her world improves. We need to help the people in Iraq acquire the tools. There’s a time to speak softly and a time to shout. We lost ground when we spoke too softly in Fallujah and Mosul. Our policies, for the most part, are sound. But our greatest resource is not technology or machinery. It is the decency of the men and women who are there, risking their lives and representing our side. They shall speak softly, but we need to be with them, carrying the big stick.
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