Not bad, but use of the term "smart power" to describe non-military power implies that military power is never smart.

Smart power sounds good and Hillary seems to have the talent to exercise it. It will be harder however, the more America gets in debt to other nations since that undermines our effective economic power and credibility. I'm not saying that's the most important thing there is, just reminding readers it matters and is easily neglected in our thinking.

Sure, we may like it here, but to Joe Twelve-Pax, "smart" power just sounds elitist. Worse, what will the military think? (Thanks, Haik Bedrosian!)

Smart power is also the name of a CSIS project, "CSIS Commission on Smart Power," co-chaired by Joseph Nye and Richard Armitage. I believe it began early last year.

http://www.csis.org/smartpower/

Americans may very well be stupid, but the rest of the world is beginning to understand American power kills them, whether it is hard, soft, smart or dumb. America needs to learn the power of asking forgiveness.

Does everything have to have snappy marketing terminology? What's wrong with just saying "diplomacy" or "economic assistance?" Not everything in the world has to be a commercial.

The use of a massive troop presence in Afghanistan will, in my view, fail utterly. I believe we need to include the Taliban in any political solution for the simple reason that the Taliban have widespread support in that country. For the same reason we need to include Hamas in discussions about the future of Gaza. To act as though these groups are not there because of our stupid labels is only evidence of our own continuing stupidity. In the same vein, we need to engage Iran and Syria vis a vis any middle east peace. All of the bluster is evidence only of our blundering ignorance, of which there is a vast abundance.

I heartily agree that Democrats should avoid any use of or entanglement with the term "smart," since we don't want to make Joe 6P angry with us. Democrats should never give the impression that they're educated, lest some voters decide they're being condescended to. The monumentally stellar achievements of Harry Reid as Majority Leader are testament enough to "soft power."

"Deficit Power"

What's wrong with "influence". It's a noun, and a verb! And at no point does it suggest force.

What's wrong with just saying "diplomacy" or "economic assistance?"

Neither of those fully captures the idea of power that is applied without the application of force. Each of those are components of that, but neither alone, nor even both together, capture the entire scope. Leading by example, assistance (including non-financial assistance) to non-government actors in civil society, and propaganda all are also part of "smart power". (Arguably, "smart power" is roughly equivalent to the idea of "diplomacy" which includes, in addition to the common understanding, "public diplomacy" as the term, originally coined to put a positive spin on propaganda, has come to extend to include most aspects of international power that don't involve traditional diplomacy or force, but "public diplomacy" is often understood as something different than unmodified "diplomacy", not something included within it.)

And, actually, "smart power" is a pretty good word; there is considerable reason to beleive that "smart power" enhances itself through successful application, whereas military power exhausts itself through application. (So "sustainable" or "renewable" power might be an even better label, but then you get into confusion with definitions of "power" from completely different domains.)

Does everything have to have snappy marketing terminology? What's wrong with just saying "diplomacy" or "economic assistance?" Not everything in the world has to be a commercial.

-Don't forget, this idea has to be sold to the American Moron. Today, framing is everything, and calling it "smart" co-opts the "nuke 'em all" crowd- morons hate to be called, well, morons. . .

I still like the term imperial manipulation the best.

Not bad, but use of the term "smart power" to describe non-military power implies that military power is never smart.

Well, I did 22 years. Six enlisted and sixteen an officer, and I deployed to one war in that time. And in my experience, asserting that military power is never smart is not that far from the truth, at least not in the years since the end of WW II.

Jay Leno joked about how to get even with the Taliban for harboring Bin Laden. He said, "Kidnap all the Afghan women and send them to an American College." This is the perfect blending of hard power and soft power.

There's an common metaphor that already works perfectly: "carrot and stick". Why must we listen to defense analysts for new language? They always mangle it anyway.

The Nye/Armitage CSIS "Smart Power" Commission Report was issued 11/07

There's an common metaphor that already works perfectly: "carrot and stick".

It doesn't even work approximately; power-other-than-force isn't all "carrot", plenty of it is "stick", and much of it doesn't easily fall into either the carrot or stick category.

Smart Power is a green energy company (solar, wind, etc.) , came across that term originally on www.smartpowertechnologies.com