[Adapted from my hardcopy monthly column, For Goodness' Sake, in Front Porch Magazine]

“I don’t think we understood the cultural, historic influences that pushed them into that position. It might have helped us ward the whole thing off if we had understood the deeper currents in the situation.”

The above quote is attributed to Stansfield Turner, CIA Director during the Carter administration. Recorded in 1995, in this comment he was reflecting back on the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. (Invisible History – Afghanistan’s Untold Story exposes the mind-boggling complexity of Afghanistan’s internal and external influences over the century and a half preceding that invasion, which resulted in tremendous suffering and loss on many sides during a ten-year struggle.)

My current mission here is winding down. Anticipating what will likely be several more years of traveling into and out of this troubled nation, I have been studying more about the circumstances which led to today’s mess in Afghanistan.

The opening quote by Director Turner hit like an intellectual boot to the head. Regular readers of For Goodness’ Sake will recognize that cultural awareness is frequently highlighted in this column; this isn’t a nice-to-have component of effective war and peace planning, it’s an essential piece. In Powerful Peace, we constantly explore the value of understanding other ways of life – a very real matter of life or death.

The Soviet adventure in Afghanistan finally ended in bitter defeat, with the Soviets having met exactly the same fate as every other invader since Alexander the Great. Their experience is frequently compared to the American conflict in Vietnam.

I’d like to provide a much more personal and therefore recognizable anecdote to demonstrate the dangerous absurdity of conflict based on mutual misunderstanding:

Ali was a friend of mine during a year’s assignment in Turkey. We enjoyed spending time at a restaurant hangout down by the beach, so his unexpected hostility one fateful night came as a complete shock.

There was a Dutch tourist staying in our little coastal town, and it was no secret that Ali also had his eye on her. When I finally arranged a dinner date one night, I naturally felt like the winner of the Jack-Ali competition for female attention. It was probably a mistake to arrange that dinner date for the same club where we normally partied.

While she and I snacked on feta cheese and olives, I clumsily made small talk and the discussion – ridiculously – turned to astrology (as in, “what’s your sign?”) Unfortunately, this European had only a partial grasp of English, and I only knew two phrases in Dutch. Neither was appropriate for polite conversation.

When I said I’m a Taurus, it earned only a blank stare. The word “bull” fell flat next, and when “boy cow” failed I realized my attempt at a clever joke was rapidly careening off a social cliff. It was time for date-saving physical gestures.

Extending my index fingers, I placed them alongside my temples to depict a boy cow’s horns. That’s when all Turkish hell broke loose.

Within seconds, Ali was at my side and striking me in the shoulder. I hadn’t even known he was at the club that night! He shouted, “Did you do this to me???” and placed his fingers at his own temples.

I was baffled. My date was frightened. I rose to my feet and, in broken Turkish, told him I didn’t know what the blank he was talking about. This seemed to aggravate him further, but it ended peacefully. After a couple of tense minutes, Ali stalked away. The dinner was ruined.

As I had planned to stay on the beach that evening, it ended up being a one-eye-open, sleepless night. Angry Turkish knives can slice tent fabric as easily as a throat.

When I raised the matter with best friend Hayri the next day, he was aghast. After extensive explanation, I finally came to understand that the Turkish verb “to gore” (boynuzlemek) means, colloquially, “to cheat on your man”. In other words, if a fellow isn’t man enough to keep a girl happy, she will go off with another, leaving the first “gored”.

Ali thought we were talking about and laughing at him!

Of course, the potential for a fistfight is a weak comparison to the immeasurable pain endured during the ill-fated Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but the dynamic is fundamentally the same. If you would make your own life easier, begin by considering your impact on others.

And be very careful with hand gestures!

Copyright 2009 by Jack Oatmon. All rights reserved.

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[Taken directly from my hardcopy Applied Smart Power column, For Goodness' Sake, at Front Porch Magazine]

For Goodness’ Sake was born, nearly two years ago, as the result of a chance meeting of the minds. Your editor, Rob Grogan, and yours truly engaged in an email dialogue about the goodness of hometown living (as illustrated monthly in Front Porch Magazine), and one thing led to another. We discussed how much just-plain-good there is among all the people in the thirty-plus nations I visited for work during a busy SEAL career. We decided then, especially since I was heading back into Iraq for a year’s contract, that we would like to tell the American people about this.

From that casual beginning, eighteen For Goodness’ Sake installments have already unfolded. It’s hard to believe. I re-read all of them this evening, to get a feel for where it had been supposed to go…and where it actually went.

You know, this was only supposed to be simple anecdotes all along. I have written and spoken for years on Applied Smart Power (the balance of coercion and attraction) in my obsession to reduce conflict and unnecessary violence, but FGS started out to be no more than sweet stories about folks around the world – mere observations on how similar others’ lives and experiences really are to ours. FGS was supposed to be casual and simple.  That didn’t last long.

The seventh installment, for example, entitled “Charity”, addressed the needs of impoverished and famished Iraqi children. “Charity” spoke to how simple it is to meet their basic needs for food and medicine…and how wrong it is for our soldiers to provide that care through the chain link fence of our bases in Iraq. These kind young Americans desperately want to help the little ones, but doing so is forbidden by commanders, because it would attract more children, attract terrorist attackers to the gathering children and soldiers, and endanger the children in the end. This is just one example of the terrible complexity in dealing with violence and its consequences.

Last December, in “Community”, For Goodness’ Sake addressed the deliriously happy response locals in Baghdad were having to something we in the States take comfortably for granted – going to the zoo. That piece tried to reconcile our American assumptions about such an ordinary outing with the stark reality on the ground in Iraq.  Mothers and fathers, little brothers and sisters; all are fair game for the twisted beasts who target innocent families with massive improvised explosive devices. Thousands upon thousands of such pitiful victims have fallen to the madness of terrorist attacks.

While reviewing these past stories from our shared Front Porch journey, I found a theme repeating itself. Similar to the original intention of sweet similarities, but different in scale, that theme is “reflection”. Although we can discuss the common needs of food, shelter and security, often the ideas come best not through commonality but in contrast. Yes, there is a common human desire to enjoy a clear day at the park with loved ones…but in For Goodness’ Sake our focus settles on the contrast between frolicking in Fredericksburg and frolicking under fire.  We’re holding up a mirror image of the same event, reflected through local circumstances on both sides of the glass. The message is in the difference.

This is an exciting discovery, as the true power of Smart Power can be easily understood in the context of holding up mirrors. In what I call “Applied” Smart Power, we assume a personal obligation to pause in our assumptions about others – especially others in opposition to us – and consider what they see when they look at us. Negative behavior toward me is often a reaction to an unintended something about me.

Once I grasp this simple concept and begin to thoughtfully consider how I present myself to the world, I am amazed to discover that in some cases, I begin to guide others’ behavior as they relate back to me!

Copyright 2009 by Jack Oatmon. All rights reserved.

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[Adapted from my Smart Power column, For Goodness' Sake, in Front Porch Magazine]

“I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country….”

So I was sitting at the Veterans’ Administration clinic while writing this piece. I’ve been deployed a great deal since retiring from the military a couple of years back, and finally strung together enough weeks at home in the U.S. to actually get my medical exams done.

This title, “Credit”, may seem an odd choice for a Powerful Peace theme. After all, isn’t this column usually about terrorism, or global security, or the urgent need for diversity and Smart Power? Especially now, when the economy is on everyone’s mind and the irresponsible use of credit was a major contributor to our financial mess, it might seem a touchy subject.

Let’s wander down a different path, then. We sometimes hear expressions like, “To his credit, he is one heck of a softball player,” or, “…the family dog was credited with alerting the residents to the deadly kitchen fire.”

Credit can be a good thing.

On the wall of the VA clinic was a small poster that testified to the importance of that organization’s mission. A simple photo, spanning from just the collar to the breastbone of a very old man standing in a suit, showed his ancient, gnarled hands…and a Congressional Medal of Honor around his neck. The caption said, “Serving those who served.”

As a veteran, that image chokes me up. During one World War II commemoration when I was an active duty SEAL, some WWII “frogman” vets came to visit our Team. They were wobbly, bent, and quiet… and I knew that they were some of the greatest heroes this – or any – country had ever seen. While today we tote around millions of dollars’ worth of high-tech gear and reap the benefits of near-unlimited training budgets, they quite literally faced hails of gunfire wearing only shorts and a knife.

[The frogmen, or “UDTs” for Underwater Demolition Teams, were first established to eliminate enemy obstacles placed to keep our landing craft away from key beaches. They would tow explosive satchels while surface swimming toward a controlled shoreline and blow up these underwater obstacles – a mission set we continue to practice today. When the waters were truly frigid, they simply applied an insulating layer of grease to their exposed bodies and carried on.]

One of these vets approached me and told me how much he admires our generation for all that today’s SEALs can accomplish. I laughed and told him we see it exactly opposite; they paid the price to build a legacy of sacrifice and service that we merely try to carry on in their honor.

We are only the “Sons of UDT”.

The opening quote, about decorating the graves of slain comrades, is an early directive regarding Memorial Day, celebrated to remember our military members who have paid the ultimate price. Credit and commemoration, however, should not be limited to only those who have fallen, or even to only those in the military.

Credit should be extended to those who patiently waited (and patiently wait today) for their loved ones to return from war. A stable home for the children is a priceless gift to the deployed member, and invaluable to society itself…both today and tomorrow. I and many of my career warfighter colleagues, in fact, credit more heroism to the constant, powerful courage of those who carry the burdens at home alone.

Credit is due to those who serve us in the marketplace. The cleaning man who smiles kindly while going about his duty deserves our appreciation. Librarians, too. And what about the un-(or under-)paid public servants, those local officials we elect but barely compensate to take on the headache of governing the generally uninvolved and perpetually ungrateful mass of the rest of us?

While we’re at it, let’s give credit to one another for doing something right. “Atta Boys” cost nothing to the giver, but provide encouragement for the receiver.

Most importantly, are you giving enough credit in your own home? 

How’s your human credit score?

Copyright © 2009 by Jack Oatmon. All rights reserved.

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[adapted from my monthly column, For Goodness' Sake, in Front Porch Magazine]

Farewell

This April marks a bittersweet homecoming.  I’ve written Powerful Peace from the mixed-up belly of war in Iraq for a year, now.  Odd as it may sound, leaving war and returning to the comforts of home and loved ones bring strange feelings to a guy like me.  If you’ve been blessed to come home from war, you understand.

In these final weeks and days, my counsel may still inspire a commander to take a slightly different course; that change might still result in one American life saved or one Iraqi child unharmed by a terrorist attack…. In the States, I have no such immediate influence on the fight - the potential loss weighs heavy.  To bring just one more young husband home would be worth the cost of my entire career.  I suspect you’d feel the same, if you’d ever thought about it.

I leave good friends who will carry on in the effort for peace and stability for months to follow.  As a consultant, I choose when and where I go.  As service members, they go when and where Uncle Sam so dictates. They will continue to strive here long past my return to the land of Starbucks.

Back in “the world”, I’ll go about business as usual, see friends and family regularly, and get pretty regular sleep. I probably won’t need to lie in the dust by the side of the road because “indirect fire” has exploded a hundred yards from me, as happened last week…again.

This most recent attack was only a handful of rockets, but the one closest to me killed a man…again.

In war, I can look into the eyes of the leader who must craft a response to such attacks. I can suggest a variance on the constant impulse for violent action and hear the commander say, “I never thought about it that way.”  I can see results unfold over months of societal development, the unwelcome state a stabilized community represents to terrorists,  and the corresponding reduction of threat to our forces – and innocent citizens.

Back in the world, I won’t have my eyes, hands and ideas on the problem set so well. I’ll lose the ground truth insight that comes from being, well, on the ground. The palpable hates, hopes and hungers that saturate the very air of Iraq are missing back in Washington. We imagine we grasp what’s going on 10,000 miles away – we don’t. It’s comfortable, back home, and I think this war has taken on a status somewhat akin to scenery for the real show: the American economy.

In 2005, several of my SEAL friends were killed in Afghanistan. You may have read about it in Marcus Luttrell’s book, Lone Survivor. Although this was before my Navy retirement, I had left the active teams and begun my work in DC, so I heard about it on the news like everybody else. Unlike everybody else, these were guys with whom I had fought, trained, and laughed. The sense of having abandoned them was intense, as was the conviction that if only I had been with that special reconnaissance squad, there may have been a different outcome.

Leaving comrades is a difficult thing, even if the destination is delightful. Every veteran has experienced it. Home is calling; the thought of family and picnics and safety pulls at the soldier… yet looking at those who stay behind brings a certain reluctance to go. Remember Charlie Sheen flying away in Platoon, smiling sadly back at his brothers on the ground.

This tug-of-war occurs with even short trips away. The duty to one’s fellows, developed through shared urgency, is strong. On Christmas Eve of 2008 I wrote a poem called “R&R” (link here) in Powerful Peace. If you’ve gone on R&R from war, I think you’ll appreciate it.  If you’ve never served, I think you’ll appreciate this rare glimpse into the personal experience of your military friends.

So that’s it. Parting is, in fact, such sweet sorrow.

Goodbye, Iraq.

…I’ll see you soon.

Copyright © 2009 by Jack Oatmon. All rights reserved.

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[adapted from my monthly column, For Goodness' Sake, in Front Porch Magazine]

Thank God for emergencies. Sometimes that’s the only way we humans can stand to be nice to each other.

In the 1960’s comedy classic, “The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!“, a handful of Soviet submariners is forced ashore on a tiny New England island. One hilarity leads to another as they sneak around, trying to make their way back to the Motherland. Before long, little old ladies are wailing about waves of invading Russian parachutists while the sheriff struggles to restore order. (Jonathan Winters is priceless as the blustering deputy who shouts to “organize” amid the mayhem.)

While I won’t ruin the film by telling all the good bits or the ending, I’ll say that this movie illustrates the unifying power of crisis. Many guns are pointed at many people, and we see ordinarily adversarial relationships healed by moments of need.

It’s a shame, but sometimes we need such an urgent, common cause to get out of our own heads.

We read that the Titanic tragedy was another example of the finer qualities of humanity shining forth, when men unanimously assisted women and children onto the limited number of rafts in the sure knowledge that they themselves would perish. (Well, unanimously except for that one sleazy weasel, or sleazel, who was trying to get Leonardo’s girlfriend – but we all saw that coming!)

The massive recovery effort for September 11th involved thousands of dissimilar individuals. We didn’t hear of people refusing to pull a broken survivor from the rubble because he was of the wrong complexion, faith, or political party. When billions of global citizens and their leaders stood to condemn the monstrous evil of those attacks, there was a pause in rivalries…a pause in mindless self interest.

Wouldn’t we like to feel that again, but without the senseless loss of innocent life? Wouldn’t it be nice to rise above our perpetual squabbling over stale bread crusts and focus instead on cooperatively making truckloads of fresh loaves?

I have criticized Congress for its divisive diversions in running this country. Granted, it’s an easy target, but isn’t this justifiably so? After all, don’t those lofty seats exist not as the privileged rulers of a nation of subjects, but as the first servants of all others in this great experiment of democracy?

The partisan Senate vote is a pitiful sight. Such vast power spent opposing the other and protecting political territory. Could not that tremendous energy be harnessed to press forward, instead of sideways?

I’ll continue to challenge our legislators when they don’t serve us – at least until I become a member myself…at which point I’ll dig deep for the courage to be still more critical of Congress and all national leaders, for the benefit of all.

I write For Goodness’ Sake and PowerfulPeace.net because I believe it is possible to work together without crisis. In fact, I’ve watched it happen - and helped it happen - in dozens of countries around the world.

We have the capacity to look beneath the surface of another, whether from our point of view he has too many earrings or not enough, and discover that person’s unique potential. In practice, however, it is much more common to judge the book by its cover.

Here’s the punch line! I am the first victim of my contempting another. I discard a person who might otherwise be able to help me at some point. Is this casual contempt based on his appearance, or some affiliation?

Am I not then perpetuating partisan thinking?

Besides the obvious abandonment of that person’s potential positive contribution in my life, I also invite negative feedback/retaliation from anyone that I disregard or mistreat.

How stupid can one person be? And yet we do it…by the billions.

I propose that we practice Smart Power at the individual level. Let’s open our minds, look for the value in those unlike ourselves, and discover how alike we are. This is “smart power to the people”.

We can work together without depending on crisis for motivation. At some point, this cooperation even averts some crisis.

And finally, there is just one more thing: get a copy of “The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!” Seriously. You could use a good laugh.

Copyright © 2009 by Jack Oatmon. All rights reserved.

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We want to tell our children that monsters don’t exist - and mean it. As long as we keep a mental picture of Frankenstein’s fictional lab project or a nice, tidy Dracula, this is the truth. Unfortunately, Bela Lugosi’s famously overpainted vampire face is only a popular reflection of a man who really lived long ago, who really did very bad things to people.

Vlad the Impaler was known for his gruesome treatment of enemies, slaves, and innocent passers-by, and it’s partly his history that informs the movie monsters of today. Just think: somebody in the world was his nearest neighbor. (If a news crew had come to the neighbor’s door, you know what you’d hear: “Vlad was always a quiet man; kept to himself.”)

Jeffrey Dahmer had a next-door neighbor, and so did every other cannibalistic, necrophiliac serial killer who ever lived.

Today Austria locked up a man from a nice neighborhood who had locked up his pretty, teenaged daughter…locked her up at the age of 18 in a slave quarters in the basement of the home he shared with his unwitting wife…locked her up for twenty-four years…so he could rape her…3,000 times…fathering seven children from his own child…and ultimately, murdering one of his infant sons/grandsons through depriving medical care when the boy experienced respiratory distress.

This man went so far as to adopt three of his children/grandchildren with his wife, as a “concerned family member” of his “runaway” daughter…the other three children never once saw the light of the sun all the years of their pitiful lives, until last year’s rescue.

As I’ve said many times, Powerful Peace is not about peace, love and harmony on a fantastical Utopian plane. It is about the hard, cold reality that we never have and never will all get along – but that biting back our biting words and holding back our eager fists is the only true way to open a little space that can permit us to break the cycle of violence. When I react to provocation I invite retaliation; retaliation, which harms my loved ones and myself…. The pattern is ridiculously obvious, yet we foolish humans leap repeatedly, willingly into tit-for-tat office squabbles and international bloodbaths.

The key lesson, as always, is that Smart Power is composed of a balance of hard (or forceful), and soft (or attractive) powers. Again, as you’ve read here extensively, the flaw of ordinary peace movements is in believing that love and tolerance can solve every conflict. These ideals are absolutely the higher way, and must be pursued with all our energy – but they won’t stop the sweating, summertime-parka-wearing young man with desperate eyes as he walks briskly toward your checkpoint. A bullet is required to stop a suicide bomber.

There are very bad things in the world, and bad things are required to deal with some of them. There are suicide attackers who cannot be stopped with dialogue or even threats – after all, what would constitute an effective threat against a man who plans to take his own life within a few seconds?

The bad things include people we will never fully understand. Denying their reality would be to wander away from the courageous stance of Powerful Peace - which faces reality on reality’s terms.

Be a little more mindful of strangers, and hug your children a little tighter than usual this evening.

And for God’s sake, please - please - preserve their fleeting, fragile innocence…keep telling them that monsters aren’t real.

Copyright © 2009 by Jack Oatmon. All rights reserved.

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“Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we all are mortal.”             - J. F. Kennedy

Powerful Peace is not for the faint of heart.

Powerful Peace is not for those who default to ”Evade” when the going gets rough. It’s not for those who are unwilling to dare, and risk, for what’s right.

Powerful Peace is not for wimps. Shame and regret is for wimps. Powerful Peace is for heroes – little heroes and big heroes - of all shapes, colors, and backgrounds.

During my Navy years, we lived according to the Navy “Core Values” of Honor, Courage, and Commitment. I strongly supported those values then, and they serve as a sound foundation for P2 now. I believe, however, that clarification is necessary lest these life-giving terms diminish into a two-dimensional, military sense for a society raised on war movies.

Honor is much larger than the blood-boiling cinematic thrills of a mortally-wounded Spartan king standing defiantly against overwhelming Persian might, surrounded by the carnage of his fallen soldiers. (That’s very cool, however; 300 is one of my favorite Hero Guy movies.)

Honor is a precious gift, and uniquely human. It is a silent, powerful guide in the heart of man and woman.

As with all virtues, honor also can be perverted - into such concepts as the unbelievable spectacle of ”honor killings”, in which a young woman’s male relatives (we’re talking brothers and even her own father) personally murder the girl for such offenses as having been raped.

Walk with me for a moment into a horror in the name of honor that you (I pray) can not imagine. This is extracted from a National Geographic article:
—————

Thousands of Women Killed for Family “Honor“

Hillary Mayell
February 12, 2002

“Hundreds, if not thousands, of women are murdered by their families each year in the name of family ‘honor‘.

“‘Most honor killings occur in countries where the concept of women as a vessel of the family reputation predominates,’ said Marsha Freemen….

“But while honor killings have elicited considerable attention and outrage, human rights activists argue that they should be regarded as part of a much larger problem of violence against women.

“In India, for example, more than 5,000 brides die annually because their dowries are considered insufficient, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“Amnesty International has reported on one case in which a husband murdered his wife based on a dream that she had betrayed him.

“In Turkey, a young woman’s throat was slit in the town square because a love ballad had been dedicated to her over the radio.

“Even victims of rape are vulnerable. In a widely reported case in March of 1999, a 16-year-old mentally retarded girl who was raped in the Northwest Frontier province of Pakistan was turned over to her tribe’s judicial council. Even though the crime was reported to the police and the perpetrator was arrested, the Pathan tribesmen decided that she had brought shame to her tribe and she was killed in front of a tribal gathering.

“In Jordan, if a woman is afraid that her family wants to kill her, she can check herself into the local prison, but she can’t check herself out…

“…and the only person who can get her out is a male relative…

“…who is frequently the person who poses the threat.”

—————

This is not honor.

This is the enemy of honor. This is us, in all our incredible shame. Can’t we see that this is madness - an irrational, pride-based, human construct of tradition? Is there any rational argument for this tragedy?

We in the United States are no freer from personal failings than any other. After all, we have become proficient at drowning our children, and hey – we invented the abortion clinic bombing! (Funny…I don’t remember any verses, even with all the dirty, low-down people he encountered, in which Jesus advocated terrorism and murder.)

Powerful Peace requires tremendous courage and commitment to fight; not against the flawed human being across the sea from our flawed selves (often the scapegoat for our hidden sin), but the flaws within us and our human family. It’s a beginning.

Of course my SEAL brothers still in the service have to fight, while there is terror, torture, and massacre to resist; and this, using the tools we have available. But while they sacrifice in the service, we must be at least equally engaged to build toward that better society. (I say “toward”, so that fewer will label me a utopian. It is all too simple to disregard an entire point of view, if inconvenient to our worldview, by attacking a strand of the whole tapestry as being unrealistic.)

For this discussion, Honor will more purely mean honoring life. Honoring our humanity. We honor the undeniable heart’s tug that every race knows, in cradling a sleeping baby or seeing the unguarded admiration in a lover’s eyes. These are aspects of humanity that define what we truly are. These feelings are as natural and human as sleep, hunger, and thirst. They are the “basic common link” that President Kennedy identified as our starting point.

Why don’t we pour our energy into the stuff we agree on?

I’ve rattled on long enough.

I challenge the reader to Comment – we still need powerful definitions for courage and commitment.

Copyright © 2009 by Jack Oatmon. All rights reserved.

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(Here is the second half of “Smart Power in US Diplomacy”. If you didn’t read yesterday’s installment, just scroll down to the previous post to pick it up from the beginning.)

Smart Power in US Diplomacy (Part 2 of 2)

By Kaitlin MacKenzie, JTW

Furthermore, it is of paramount importance that Obama has stated his intent to open lines of communication with governments, such as Cuba and Iran, with whom the previous administration refused relations. His decision to grant his first formal interview since becoming president to the Arabic satellite station Al Arabiya is extremely symbolic. Using this opportunity to speak to the Muslim world about a new relationship based on mutual respect, and placing strong emphasis on his administration’s willingness to listen, rather than dictate, Obama told Al Arabiya television “I do think that it is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress. And we will over the next several months be laying out our general framework and approach. And as I said during my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us.” Further signs of the administration’s intentions regarding Iran can be found in the new US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice’s statement that the US will seek direct diplomacy, as well as in Obama’s use of the phrase “mutual respect,” which is an oft repeated and significant term in Iran.

Despite the Obama administration’s efforts to mend US relations, however, improving the current state of affairs requires other states’ willingness to cooperate, and it remains to be seen how much of the Bush administration’s work is irreversible. While the new president has extended a hand, it remains to be seen if others will accept it. For example, Iran’s Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a staunch supporter of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stated, “I am warning some of society’s most abandoned and hated groups, who are intending to establish relations with the US, want to meet with Obama and give the US president a green light: do not go in this direction. You are just troublemakers. Do not damage yourselves more. Do not rely on America and do not hurt people.”

All negativities aside, though, the new administration’s return to diplomacy is a refreshing change from the past 8 years’ reliance on hard power. In line with the idea of smart power, Obama’s actions indicate his view that public diplomacy is about engaging foreign powers earnestly and directly, and taking time to listen and explain, rather than turning swiftly to the use of force. It appears that he prefers a more measured approach and understands that “people are going to judge me not by my words, but by my actions and my administration’s actions.” One hopes the US will promote itself through prudent public diplomacy and the persuasive influence of its ideals, instead of acting irrationally, and becoming further mired in conflict.

Powerful Peace Copyright © 2009 by Jack Oatmon. All rights reserved.

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I am delighted to provide you the following outstanding discussion of the meaning of ”smart power” in the international arena. This little gem turned up in my research this evening in Iraq, but was originally published almost one month ago by the Journal of Turkish Weekly.

Due to space constraints, I will be posting the second half of this article tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Smart Power in US Diplomacy (Part 1 of 2)

By Kaitlin MacKenzie, JTW

Hillary Clinton, the new US Secretary of State, has made “smart power’ the new foreign policy buzzword, using the phrase several times during her recent Senate confirmation hearing. Speaking before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Mrs. Clinton repeatedly stressed the need for a more balanced foreign policy to reduce the role of the military and encourage diplomacy, the use of sanctions, and strengthen alliances – measures that would attempt to humanize the US and restore its reputation.

Although these strategies are nothing new to the diplomatic world, the emphasis here lies in their combination: the judicious balance between the use of soft power, in which a country obtains its goals through the power of attraction, and hard power, like coercion or military force, was deemed “smart power’ by Suzanne Nossel in her 2004 Foreign Affairs article bearing the same name. She argues that the Bush administration adopted the progressive theory of liberal internationalism in name only, leaving behind the doctrine’s central tenets and ideals – a wolf in sheep’s clothing – and under this banner proceeded to justify its imperious behavior and diplomatic snubs. The theory of liberal internationalism holds that the US should promote a wide range of goals, from human rights and democracy to free trade and economic development, through diplomatic, economic, and military leadership. Nossel asserts that, “Unlike conservatives, who rely on military power as the main tool of statecraft, liberal internationalists see trade, diplomacy, foreign aid, and the spread of American values as equally important.”

In this sense, smart power is realizing that the most effective means are not always those of US action, but are rather those which utilize alliances and international institutions. The US’ interests are often best furthered through careful diplomacy and the power of its ideas.

The Bush administration favored the use of hard power and, despite its later shift towards more diplomatic measures, left a slew of foreign policy issues for the Obama administration to tackle. The administration’s actions strained US alliances and added stress to NATO with its mismanagement of the war in Afghanistan. Its decisions to condone torture and open prisons defying the Geneva Conventions, not to mention its invasion of Iraq, have seriously tarnished the US’ reputation abroad and defiled aspects of the US Constitution. Thus smart power, as advocated by Nossel, becomes relevant for Obama and Clinton, who have repeatedly stressed the urgent need for, and importance of, democracy and other non-military means in the new US foreign policy.

While many are skeptical of what changes the Obama administration will bring, the new president has begun undoing his predecessor’s damage in earnest. Already he has issued executive orders to close Guantanamo Bay within one year, banning the use of torture, and closing the secret CIA prisons. And, his Justice Department appointees, especially Attorney General Eric Holder, have strong records of speaking out against the Bush administration’s use of torture, a sign that these policies have no place in the Obama administration.

[concluded in next post]

Copyright © 2009 by Jack Oatmon. All rights reserved.

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Okay, that did it. Now I’m outraged.

Very little upsets my applecart. Where some individuals will react to every little slight and challenge, I tend to look at a person who differs from me as a learning opportunity. It is fundamental to the understanding of Powerful Peace that not one of us knows everything; thus every one of us can teach something.

Where my high-falutin’ ideals break down, however, is in the realm of ego and petty authority flexing…under life-and-death conditions.

Out here in Iraq, where I’ve spent the past year, people are really dying. They’re dying less now, thank God, but dying nonetheless. They’re dying as a direct result of the fighting going on in a struggle for supremacy between various factions. Some of those dying, still, are innocent children.

In theory, each of us involved in prosecuting – and concluding – this conflict is on the same team and shares a sense of urgency in our responsibilities.

In theory.

Contrast such a shared urgency (and corresponding willingness to cooperate/compromise where necessary) with the petty tyrant. This person may be in a position of some authority or just a little. Typically, the petty tyrant is not an actual commander, but a pretender who thinks his obstructive behavior is commander-ly.

I was Roadblocked briefly this week by a petty tyrant who called to inform my team that he would not be “authorizing” a particular piece of infrastructure we require. Behind the safety of the telephone line, he puffed his chest up a little at the other end. This petty tyrant, little more than a clerk in a big uniform, was getting off on denying something.

Flash forward to a potential outcome. This piece of infrastructure (communications, power or transportation, for example) is required by a team (commandos, Info Tech or logistics, for example) to complete its mission. A petty tyrant successfully denies its issuance. The mission (a raid, satellite dish installation or food delivery, for example) is not accomplished. This denial of basic functionality is a casualty of some punk’s desire to be important. Mission readiness is diminished.

To take the analogy a little farther, imagine that this denial is enough to cause a raid to be abandoned.

The Bad Man who would have been captured is permitted to operate freely for a few more weeks. In that time he executes a car bomb attack against an Iraqi Police station. Seven dead daddies never again go home to their families. One dead commander will never take the lead in a major overhaul of a corrupt security force. A neighborhood is left undefended, and many more die, during the year it takes to rebuild the station.

Oh, and by the way – in the adjacent girls’ school, six little daughters are destroyed as their parents have only barely begun to dream about their futures. See my earlier Posts War is Good and Why I Exist.

Copyright © 2009 by Jack Oatmon. All rights reserved.

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