$2.9 billion worth of hard power to Saudi Arabia

Hard power has to do with the capacity to coerce and defeat your enemy through military power.  Soft power is your country's appeal to the world, and the ability to promote your values.  Foreign policy expert Joseph Nye says that while both are important, it is best to have a balance between the two. 

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson echoed that opinion during yesterday's weekly Democratic radio address:

"..military power and diplomacy arenot alternatives to one another, but rather are complementary sourcesof strength. What the Bush Administration has failed to understand isthat while diplomacy without power is weak, power without diplomacy isblind."

The problem right now, as many would agree, is that we are placing too much of an emphasis on hard power and not enough soft power.  So it comes as no surprise that the middle east is in the midst of a hard power confrontation.  International politics is becoming too polarized.

The Bush war cabinet does not understand that we need a balance between hard and soft power.  Today the Administration announced the approval of a $2.9 billion sale of Abrams Tanks to Saudi Arabia.  This was all part of a much larger $4.6 billion military package to a group of moderate Arab states.  While supporting some of those states is helpful, like Jordan and Bahrain, tanks and air power alone will not be enough to prevent the massive Arab street uprising that Hezbollah, Syria and Iran are trying to achieve.  The war on terrorism is mostly an asymmetrical struggle.  It's too bad that Bush's war cabinet continues to have a Cold War mindset about it all.