Richardson lists seven ways to improve our foreign policy

In the Democratic Party's weekly radio address today, Bill Richardson, the current New Mexico Governor and former Energy Secretary under Clinton, took the time to unveil seven ways that we can improve our foreign policy.  Hint: it starts with realism.

Here is the full text

Here is the full audio (QuickTime)

And below is an excerpt of Richardson's seven-point proposal:

We need a new realism in our foreign policy, which includesthe following elements:

One, achieve national security through energy independence. We needa man on the moon effort to reduce our dependency on foreign oil -- gofrom 65-percent to 20-percent by 2015; increase fuel efficiency; investin green buildings and fuel cells; and become the leader of the futureeconomic engine of the world -- renewable energy, such as ethanol,solar and wind.

Two, re-build alliances and reinvigorate our allies. A far- sightedpolicy would have built a coalition to prevent Iran from developingnuclear weapons. Most immediately, we need an international coalitionfor peacekeeping in the Middle East.

Three, focus on the real dangers. Prioritize resources to fight AlQaeda and Jihadist terrorists and the most urgent dangers, such asnuclear terrorism. That means a new strategy for success in Iraq thatallows us to redeploy our troops.

Four, don't outsource our diplomacy. We need direct, face to facetalks with North Korea. We should also talk directly with Iran.

Five, we need to pay attention to Latin America, our own back yard.The key is passing a comprehensive immigration plan now that includesenhanced border security, a path to legalization for the 11 millionimmigrants already here, and sanctions against employers who knowinglyhire illegal immigrants. The House should stop holding these sillyhearings. Mr. President, your good words on immigration should befollowed by deeds to pass a comprehensive plan.

Six, face up to global environmental threats. The first thing thisAdministration did was reject the Kyoto Treaty. America should be theworld's leader, and that means owning up to grave environmentaldangers, such as global warming.

Finally, respect human rights and American values. Prisoner abuse,torture, secret prisons and evasion of the Geneva Accords should haveno place in our foreign policy.

Also, Richardson had one other good point that I did not include before:

Above all, it means understanding that 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.

Richardson, above all, appears to be subscribing to Joseph Nye's soft and hard power theory.  Hard power is our capacity to coerce and defeat through military force.  Soft power is our worldwide appeal, which allows us to promote our values.  You can't have just hard or soft power -- you need both.  Right now, we are exercising too much hard power and not enough soft power.  No it comes as no surprise that in the Middle East we are seeing an overload of hard power between Israel and Hezbollah.  Maybe it's about time we started balancing things out.

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Other blogs writing about Bill Richardson: The Bill Richardson Blog, Washington Outsiders, Democracy for New Mexico, Daily Pundit, Pike Place Politics, Oval Office 2008, The Imus Show Blog.