Smart Soft Power

    Yesterday at the Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, in a Conference in conjunction with the Transatlantic Alliance Forum, the French Embassy and L'Alliance Francaise, headliner Assistant Secretary of State Brimmer gave an impressive run down of the Smart ways we are engaging in Foreign Policy with the use of diplomatic Smart Power.  She took us on a verbal tour through Somalia, Libya and Syria in her remarks noting how effectively we have served American interests there. Yes, it is much softer, and much smarter than the previous Administration. In her petite frame this Oxford educated DC native packs a powerful punch- in a soft way you might say.  She is also very female, which is a great pride in such a high office for our country as we attempt to model what a free society looks like to more female repressive regimes around the world. It is incredibly important in the world to have such figures, a woman of color who one might mistake for an Ethiopian or Haitian for her delicate profile as a face of one of the most powerful figures in American government speaking to other cultures where women's cultural identities are limited- countries where women in Africa experience for example female genital mutilation, or forced marriages, or honor killings or literal stoning to death for adultery. This is a figure that should be more on display- on TV or in webcasts on the State Department website.

    There were a lot of interesting speakers on the panels.

The French attaché for education, an academic at the Embassy Emilienne Baneth-Nouailhetas noted that language is really significant in developing mutual understanding so french language training is a cornerstone of good diplomacy from a french perspective--a very fitting theme given the conference was cosponsored by L'Alliance Francais, the international language institute that has a wide variety of programs including now in DC public schools. She noted that the Chateaubriand scholarships allow American scholars to study and live in France for six or more months which encourages their language development. Its hard to live in a country that long without picking up some french she noted. It makes it difficult to also reduce the french  into 'cheese -eating whatevers' she argued. (The Republican idiot phrase was 'cheese-eating surrender monkeys' from the same vibe that renamed by Congressional edict 'french fries'- freedom fries. ) There are ways of looking at things and nuance is suggested by language differentials. There are levels obviously of linguistic prowess- and the better one becomes at it, the better neighbor one can become in empathy at viewing the world together from similar perspectives.

One noted the difficulty in operating globally where there is a trust deficit in government. This, I fear the Obama State Department inherited from the Bush Administration. How do you follow a trumped up rigged war on phony photoshopped UN presentations masquerading as a humanitarian response to a rogue ruler who attacks his own people, when Bush attacked his own people in 9-11. Half of New York believes it is an 'inside job' a third at least and counting of the Democratic Party in the US does (and those figures are likely low given that people are made out to be loons if they have half a brain and put the pieces together--just google 911 truth and see what you get.)  It is irrational to believe from what we now know that a bunch of independent jihadist Saudi hijackers hit those targets and brought down three buildings in New York unaided when explosives were widely heard and with all the scientific evidence of how thermite works and its dust clouds ensue. It is astounding any European politician still believes it.  We have to get beyond it and admit we had a disastrous rogue government here- and stop playing  footsie with the Bush legacy which is nothing short of scandalous.  I have always argued you should have your head examined if you believe the US Pentagon, the most secure military installation in the World, command central for global wars, would be so unprotected a massive object the size of a missile could penetrate both ends of it without someone who knows missiles having control of it.

     One British woman noted that really, the civil society orgs function independent of the lack of trust many people have in government in a tip of the hat to the 'yes, we know it was garbage but what do you expect us to do now?' meme. Scientific diplomacy was touted as one of the reasons that trust can evolve as science is a search for truth on another level and international cooperation in scientific advancements and endeavors can improve international mutual understanding.  Student exchanges are a great 'soft power' diplomatic tool.  This is undermined obviously by things like Chinese intellectual property piracy, which is a huge problem.

A USAID worker with eleven years engaging in 'soft power' around the world to avoid conflicts explained that sometimes in government there are cross agendas working at cross purposes. She detailed USAIDs efforts under Bush to stop the genocide in Darfur which she claimed were stopped deliberately by Bush's other so called 'war on terror' objectives in which we needed the genocidal government to cooperate with us in the Sudan to fight 'terror.'
  A former Bush appointee NATO individual whose name I wish to forget gave probably the best Obama re-election rationale without meaning to in noting that he believes 'hard power' should in effect be harder- meaning more massive killing machinery to scare everyone that we are the biggest baddest bullies on the block and you all better do what we want or consider yourself dead. I think the world has had enough of that sort of non-proliferation rationale, don't you?

     If 911 was rigged and an 'inside job' false flag attack, then we can't be sure it won't happen again-as it has through history. Now you can google on Youtube warnings about anticipated disasters to strike the London Olympics. From what I know and don't want to know- I would take those warnings seriously.

  Sometimes in these conferences, especially when intellectualish- hawkish people talk about 'hard power' its easy to lose sight of the fact that when you talk about using it you are talking about killing people- large numbers of people, and inevitable collateral damage casualties of women and children not just soldiers in government's power battles. Real people get killed in wars. Hence, it shouldn't be used as a tool of commerce- in other words industry leaders who are unsuccessful in negotiating oil deals in the caspian who lose out to other countries should not get to retaliate by carpet bombing the country into submission or oblivion by rigging public opinion to wage wars. That is beyond scandalous- its disgusting.
It is hard to not lose faith in one's government when it functioned like this. The Obama Administration is working hard to restore trust in the government, but it has had a hard climb.  At least the trajectory is going in the right direction.