An interview with Knoowii TV about the use of hard power, soft power and smart power in international relations.
(Knoowii TV, February 29, 2012)
Source: youtube.com
A Pivot That Is Long Overdue
There are three good reasons for President Obama’s decision to rotate regularly 2,500 Marines through an Australian base.
(New York Times, November 21, 2011)
Source: The New York Times
Has Economic Power Replaced Military Might?
At the Cold War’s end, some pundits proclaimed that “geo-economics” had replaced geopolitics. Economic power would become the key to success in world politics, a change that many people thought would usher in a world dominated by Japan and Germany.
(Project Syndicate, June 6, 2011)
Source: project-syndicate.org
Power Shifts
As Americans wrestle with the implications of revolutions in the Middle East as well as the rise of China in Asia, we need a better understanding of what it means to have power in world politics. Traditionally, the mark of a great power was its ability to prevail in war. But in an information age, success depends not just on whose army wins but also on whose story wins.
(TIME, May 9, 2011)
Source: TIME
The Pros and Cons of Citizen Diplomacy
Global politics has become a contest of competitive credibility. The world of traditional power politics was typically about whose military or economy wins, but in an information age, power is also about whose story wins.
(New York Times, October 4, 2010)
Source: The New York Times
Is Military Power Becoming Obsolete?
Will military power become less important in the coming decades? It is true that the number of large-scale inter-state wars continues to decline, and fighting is unlikely among advanced democracies and on many issues. But, as Barack Obama said in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, “we must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations—acting individually or in concert—will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.”
(Project Syndicate, January 11, 2010)
Source: project-syndicate.org
An Alliance Larger Than One Issue
Seen from Tokyo, America’s relationship with Japan faces a crisis. The immediate problem is deadlock over a plan to move an American military base on the island of Okinawa. It sounds simple, but this is an issue with a long back story that could create a serious rift with one of our most crucial allies.
(New York Times, January 6, 2010)
Source: The New York Times
American Power in the Twenty-First Century
The United States government’s National Intelligence Council projects that American dominance will be “much diminished” by 2025, and that the one key area of continued American superiority–-military power–-will be less significant in the increasingly competitive world of the future. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has called the 2008 financial crisis a sign that America’s global leadership is coming to an end. The leader of Canada’s opposition Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff, suggests that US power has passed its mid-day. How can we know if these predictions are correct?
(Project Syndicate, September 10, 2009)
Source: project-syndicate.org
