ROBERT M. GATES: "WE CANNOT KILL OR CAPTURE OUR WAY TO VICTORY ..."

In what can only be seen as a stinging slap at the ill-conceived policies and hubris of the neo-cons who came to power with George W. Bush, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said that the State Department should take the lead in U.S. engagements with other countries. Warning of "creeping militarization" in the U.S. Gates - a former CIA director - said that civilian agencies should have more funding because ...

... the most persistent and potentially dangerous threats will come less from emerging ambitious states, than from failing ones that cannot meet the basic needs -- much less the aspirations -- of their people.

With more and more states unable to meet basic needs, Gates warned against allowing the military take the lead in distributing U.S. aid and rebuilding countries around the world (as is the case in Afghanistan and Iraq), cautioning that "We cannot kill or capture our way to victory" in the war on terror.

For those of you who read this blog regularly, you know that Gates is advocating that the U.S. go back to building it's "soft power" - which is the capacity to attract others to your side. Soft Power is not a novel concept. After winning WWII we were able to convince many nations to side with us because other nations saw that ideas and moral conviction matter in the U.S. And the democratic ideal was just one part of this equation.

Many nations saw how the U.S. acted during WWII and understood what it meant for humanity. For example, while the U.S. won kudos for fighting and defeating fascist and dictatorial powers, the world also saw a big difference between how the Japanese and Germans treated their POWs. They also saw a big difference between the emerging police state in Russia, and the open society that existed for most Americans in the U.S.

Rather than taking out our guns and telling the world to follow our lead, the U.S. benefitted from the success of its ideas and the power of example.

To be sure, a strong military helped us make our points. It still does. But the ability to attract others to your position means you don't have to force your will at the point of a bayonet. This often leads to acquiesence, and even subordination. The 20th Century became the American Century because of this.

- Mark