russ.davis
Meeting with the TNI General Staff, Jakarta
We had one meeting with the Indonesian Army General Staff. The most interesting aspect of this one was the question that we got regarding their perception of US intent to utilize "soft power" as its primary tool of statecraft in the new administration.
If I could break into the vernacular of my youth, I would say that the subtext on the question was, "...so now that you're going to be acting like pussies, how's that working for you?" You would have had to have been there to see the smile on the guy's face as he was asking the question. Bear in mind that this was primarily a group of men from two different military institutions and I wasn't the only one who picked up that tone.
We tried to give answers that would put our understanding of what the US is doing in perspective for them. Our State Dept. rep. emphasized the view that diplomacy should generally be one of the first tools employed to resolve international issues. My comment was along the lines that the real issue is how to use "smart power" which employs all tools of statecraft as required to address issues. My Marine Corps colleague summed it up nicely, noting that when they think of the US, they should think of the Marine Corps motto, "...no better friend, no worse enemy...we'll try diplomacy first, but if necessary we'll bring out the hammer." By the time we were done with that question I hope that they understood our point of view.....
Meeting with the TNI General Staff, Jakarta
We had one meeting with the Indonesian Army General Staff. The most interesting aspect of this one was the question that we got regarding their perception of US intent to utilize "soft power" as its primary tool of statecraft in the new administration.
If I could break into the vernacular of my youth, I would say that the subtext on the question was, "...so now that you're going to be acting like pussies, how's that working for you?" You would have had to have been there to see the smile on the guy's face as he was asking the question. Bear in mind that this was primarily a group of men from two different military institutions and I wasn't the only one who picked up that tone.
We tried to give answers that would put our understanding of what the US is doing in perspective for them. Our State Dept. rep. emphasized the view that diplomacy should generally be one of the first tools employed to resolve international issues. My comment was along the lines that the real issue is how to use "smart power" which employs all tools of statecraft as required to address issues. My Marine Corps colleague summed it up nicely, noting that when they think of the US, they should think of the Marine Corps motto, "...no better friend, no worse enemy...we'll try diplomacy first, but if necessary we'll bring out the hammer." By the time we were done with that question I hope that they understood our point of view.....