US focus on 'terror war' sinks image to all-time low: report (AFP)

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 11/06/07 | AFP

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States needs to shift from muscle-flexing to alliance-building when it seeks to wield power in the world if it wants to patch up its battered global image, said a report on Tuesday.

"America's reputation, standing and influence are at all-time lows, and possibly sinking further," the report by a 20-member think-tank commissioned by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said, citing half a dozen opinion polls from around the world.

"The terrorist attacks on 9/11 caused America to become a frightened and angry nation," it said.

"We reacted in ways that alarmed people the world over ... we relied excessively on hard military power to fight the war against terrorists and violent extremists.

"Ultimately this is a battle that will be won by ideas, not bullets. Just like the Cold War, we will prevail when the world chooses the opportunities we defend over the despair offered by our enemies."

The report, which was more than a year in the making, said the United States has focused too much on the war on terror and relied too heavily on military might in its foreign policy.

"The Pentagon is the best trained and best resourced arm of the federal government ... it tends to fill every void.

"The United States must become a smarter power by investing once again in the global good -- providing things that people and governments in all quarters of the world want but cannot attain in the absence of American leadership."

It called on the next US president to chart a new course towards a "smarter" foreign policy that balances hard power -- "wielding carrots and sticks to get what you want" -- and soft power -- "the ability to attract people to our side without coercion."

By shifting its foreign policy focus from the war on terror to championing the global good, the United States will not only defeat terrorism but will also restore its greatness, the report said.

The commission included former military commander in Iraq Anthony Zinni; ex-US ambassador to the United Nations, Russia and Israel Thomas Pickering; former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor; members of congress; business leaders and the heads of non-profit organizations.

Before the United States seeks to redress its global image, it has to tidy up its own back garden, the report said.

"One of the terrible lasting impressions of Hurricane Katrina is that the US government is both unfair and inept in the face of real challenges that impact people's lives.

"Implementing a smart power strategy depends on the government's ability to organize for success. Many Americans, though, have lost faith in government's ability to adapt and work effectively in today's world.

"This perception of an uncaring, ineffective US government is even more pronounced abroad among non-US citizens."

Among recommendations the commission gave to help restore the good image of the United States were a renewed commitment to international treaties and institutions, and reinvigorated alliances.

The United States must also not have double standards in terms of international legal norms, the report said.

"The images of prisoner abuse from Abu Ghraib ... seemed emblematic of this double standard."

The commission urged more commitment to global development, more equitable global trade talks, a revitalized public diplomacy effort under which "every US citizen serves as a diplomat", and greater investment in education to ensure the United States does not fall back from the cutting edge of science and technology.

It urged more openness to foreigners -- in particular to students -- and concrete steps to enhance energy security.

"America has the capacity to be a smart power," the report concluded.

"It is the most important mandate for our next president."

[pawdoggie]

Incredible! It reminds me of that old saying, “When you’re up to your a$$ in alligators, it’s too late to ask who forgot to drain the swamp”. These clowns want to go back and drain the swamp, while pretending that the alligators still in the swamp are a minor nuisance with which we just have to live. This is nothing but a Clinton Campaign commercial, all the buzz words point to that: Abu Ghraib, Katrina, money for AIDS-related programs. Thanks to the exertions of rough men, who have driven the wolves from our door, it’s now possible to dream of a Socialist Utopia again.

[jveritas]

Thank you Eagle, I am doing fine and trying to be careful :)

[Shermy]

“citing half a dozen opinion polls from around the world”

That’s some rigid research!

/sarc

[Eric Blair 2084]

Let me put it to you this way...if these Muslim extremists weren’t so insane I wouldn’t be here talking to you today.

They only understand one language and that’s violence. Thankfully they only speak third grade broken violence whereas we speak fluent violence. (F-15s, laser guided bombs) We have a PhD in the language.

Whatever it is, I’m in favor of any candidate who will leave me alone as an American citizen and slaughter the enemy.

[pissant]

That is a good platform, frankly.

[I see my hands]

"Note to world: go to hell"

Note to USA: send them there.

[HawaiianGecko]

  It's funny how America's standing is so low.  How does one explain Jacque Chirac, an avid anti-American, Bush-hating prig being thrown out of office and replaced by an extremely pro-American, pro-Bush fellow named Sarkozy?

How do these people explain social democrat Gerhard Schröder, a man who based his entire reelection campaign on an anti-American, anti-George Bush platform being replaced by the very pro-Am, pro-GWB chancellor Angela Merkle?

How on Earth did those nasty anti-American Canadians throw out the Liberal party and wind up electing Stephen Harper who on on March 20, 2003, as the United States launched its invasion of Iraq,  rose in the Canadian House of Commons and bitterly condemned his country's refusal to join the fight. The government "has betrayed Canada's history and values," he thundered. "The government has for the first time in our history left us outside our British and American allies in their time of need." ???

How is it that Prime Minister John Howard still manages to run the Aussies from down under, with his unabashedly Pro-Bush, pro-American outlook on life?

I'll not even mention Koizumi of Japan, all of the ex-Soviet bloc countries, Manmohan Singh of India etc.  I think these people have their heads up their arses.

[Rembrandt]

Wringing my hands, holding my head, unable to stop weeping....well, time for another beer.

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

China may be able to make a billion cell phones, but they lack the innovation to develop the first one.

The EU may make a copy of the GPS cloud of satellites, but obviously they lack the innovation to develop them first.

The USSR may be able to reverse engineer stealth technology, but they lack the innovation to create them first.

Japan may be able to create tens of millions of cheap knock-off automobiles, but they lack the innovation to create the first ones.

The day that America stops, human progress forward stops.

If America's reputation is tarnished, it's because the left the world over has worked so very hard to tarnish it.

Whether the left believes it or not, AMERICAN WARS SET MEN FREE!

Ask al queda whether it was European/Canadian "soft power" that beat them out of Afghanistan and Iraq.

That's the answer to all of these kind of questions.

[Rembrandt]

“What is AFP? Not Armed Forces Press, I hope?”

AFP is a news service which fancies itself to be a big time deal. It is based in Paris, France. Fancy that.

[Rembrandt]

“Not sure how nation building relates to kinder, gentler.”
—
Joe Biden says the U.S. should break Iraq into three countries Sunni, Shiite and Kurd - nary a peep out of the Weft.

GW says Iraq needs to have some free choice, a constitution, etc. Total havoc on the Weft; GW is NATION-BUILDING...IT’S AWFUL..COLONIZING....and more drivel.

[avacado]

"WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States needs to shift from muscle-flexing to alliance-building when it seeks to wield power in the world if it wants to patch up its battered global image, said a report on Tuesday."

NEWS FLASH: France is now Pro-Bush and Pro-America! Big Muscles = Good. Weak Muscles = Panty Waist.

[Sherman Logan]

I will never apologize for the United States of America.

I agree, sorta.

When America does things that are wrong, as we have in the past and will in the future, we should apologize and try to make restitution.

What he is talking about here, however, I think, is that many furriners and anti-American Americans think we should apologize for being America, as if our net record is one of evil.

I disagree with that notion completely.

[Eagles6]

Go figure. ‘Course it also sounds like it could have been put out by the dnc.

[RobbyS]

I find it hard to believe that any person knowledgeable of the history of the Cold War could utter these words.

[sonic109]

Oh oh BIG BAD GRUMPY AMERICA AGAIN..Too friggin bad. I really don’t give a rats ass what other countries think of the US. They run to us for everything , every time there is troubles . I guess we should have smiled after 9/11 and said, “thank you sir , I’ll take another”.

[Fee]

IMHO the US should become a realpolitik nation with a Godfather mentality President. I like to spread democracy in the world but we cannot avoid being labeled a hypocrite. Kind of tricky to criticize China on religious freedom and then coddle to Saudi Arabia who is religiously intolerant for oil. I would deal with nations on a one on one basis of how they treated us in the past and what we can get from them. Giving billions to Indonesia after the tsunami after their Muslim politicians thought we deserved 9/11 and running to our chopters to get food and water in Bin Laden T shirts really irk me. I say the US close their wallets and use the power to say no when the EU demand that we send money and troops somewhere in the world like Bosnia, Somalia and etc, when their population vilfied the US and Americans overseas because they do not agree with our war in Iraq. I agree on one thing, we need to take care of home first before we go running around overseas on a crusade and handing money out to ungrateful world.

[sonic109]

It IS pure BS. Tell them so
Contact CSIS
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[AmericanExceptionalist]

It called on the next US president to chart a new course towards a "smarter" foreign policy that balances hard power -- "wielding carrots and sticks to get what you want" -- and soft power -- "the ability to attract people to our side without coercion."

So hard power includes both "wielding carrots and sticks"? Silly me. I thought hard power had nothing to do with metaphorical carrots; this sounds more like a part of "soft power."

Among recommendations the commission gave to help restore the good image of the United States were a renewed commitment to international treaties and institutions, and reinvigorated alliances.

In other words, we should simply embrace the "progressive" agenda.

"The images of prisoner abuse from Abu Ghraib ... seemed emblematic of this double standard."

The operative word is "images." There is no context in which image can be taken as a synonym for reality.

[Godwin1]

Actually, as long as America is safe and secure from further terror outrages, I could care less what ankle-biting Eurotrash say. Their hatred of America stems from envy at our energy and frustration at their own impotence. I have seen Europe—actually had to live there for a while. No need now to return. Ever.