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Nawaz Offers Views on Changing Pakistani Perceptions of U.S.
Shuja Nawaz, Director of the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, was interviewed on The Takeaway morning radio news program on the Pakistan flood situation. The discussion focused on the U.S. being the single largest donor of aid, and the potential for Pakistanis to shift their perceptions of America. Nawaz insists that the U.S. should stay the course with aid to Pakistan, but warns of the long-term effects of America's goodwill, stating that "changing image takes a long time."
Nancy Walker Addresses U.S. Africa Command Conference
Dr. Nancy J. Walker, Director of the Ansari Africa Center, gave the keynote address at Africa Command’s Senior Leader Offsite Conference in Starnberg, Germany on August 26, 2010.
South Asia Center's Shikha Bhatnagar Spotlighted
Shikha Bhatnagar's recent appointment as Associate Director of the South Asia Center of the Atlantic Council, is yet another manifestation of a growing trend of second generation Indian Americans' advent into leading Washington, DC think tanks as senior policy analysts and associates.
Chuck Hagel Discusses START Ratification on RussiaToday
Atlantic Council Chairman Chuck Hagel was interviewed for RussiaToday on delays in ratification of the START treaty in both the U.S. and Russia.
FEATURED ISSUE
In August the sunny calm and quiet that is a Swedish summer will be shattered by the impact of Joint Direct Attack Munitions dropped by F-16CM Fighting Falcons from US Air Force Europe.
Kissinger's Formula: Goal + Capability + Staying Power
James Joyner | January 16, 2009
Brent Scowcroft, who followed Henry Kissinger as National Security Advisor to President Ford, introduced his friend last night as "one of the very few people who have truly strategic minds." Kissinger demonstrated just that during the far-ranging speech that followed.
If brevity is the soul of wit, perhaps simplicity is the soul of strategy. A theme that Kissinger returned to over and again during his talk is simultaneously obvious and overlooked. For every policy issue, the great statesman told us, we must consider three aspects: Our goal, our capabilities toward acheiving that goal, and our staying power.
This is, of course, International Relations 101. Yet, if we look at how foreign policy is actually practiced, we will generally see that at least one of these facets is ignored.
The clearest case of this is the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Our stated objective, as Kissinger sees it, is a democratic state — in the fullest sense of the term, including equal rights for women and religious tolerance — that is centrally governed. He believes we "need to examine whether this is a conceivable objective."
Not only is our goal the achievement of something that has never existed in that territory but, to the extent that it's plausible nobody seriously thinks it possible in less than twenty years. Given that public opinion in most members of the coalition has already turned against the mission, Kissinger is highly skeptical that we can bring to bear sufficient resources to get the job done, much less sustain it for the necessary timeframe.
If, after careful reassessment, we decide that we don't have the staying power and other necessary capabilities to achieve the goal, then we "need a different strategy." He suggests that it will likely be one "designed to prevent what we fear most: the return of a terrorist state."
It should be noted that Kissigner is very much in favor of achieving our stated objective. As an American and an immigrant, he says it is "impossible" not to believe in democracy and the power of its ideology. But, alas, we must recognize the difference between our preferences and the national interest. Failure to align one's policy goals to what is actually possible isn't "idealism" but a recipe for failure.
Related New Atlanticist Commentary:
- Kissinger in Quotes – James Joyner
- Henry Kissinger: Optimist! – James Joyner
- Kissinger: Iran Diplomacy More Than Just Talk – James Joyner
Related Event:
James Joyner is managing editor of the Atlantic Council. AP Photo by Charles Dharapak.
Comments
That's one of the primary reasons I opposed the invasion of Iraq. I didn't think that the domestic political considerations supported staying as long as would be required to stabilize the situation and nor did it support using the level of force that might have shortened the duration of the stay.
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