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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GST who wrote (151370)	11/10/2004 11:11:04 AM
From: wonk	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

Foreign policy is not just military strength. Brand Equity The reputation of the US, and the perception of it as a force for good has been damaged by the Iraq War. People who support the action will attempt to diminish the argument but the cost has been significant - though unquantifiable by traditional means. In this regard, the best analogy is from business and the concept of intangible assets and brand equity. Remember the Tylenol murders? It is still a case study in business schools about how to protect a Company and its brand against a horrific incident. personal.psu.edu In my opinion, we’ve done everything opposite of what that case teaches. Economic Persuasion / Warfare In a bi-polar world, we could run large budget deficits with little ill-effect because those we were indebted to were our allies – either by disposition or cooptation. However today, due to the twin trade and budget deficits, we have handed an incredibly powerful potential weapon to potential adversaries, particularly China. While today our relationship with China is relatively benign, in a more confrontation situation they could (and likely would) use their tremendous holdings of dollars to ruthless effectiveness. Already the dollar is under pressure. (see USD:Euro exchange rate and trends) If we were to build a Foreign Policy Balance Sheet, military strength would only be one line item. If the above-mentioned items have “positive” balances, then military strength predominates. However, if the items above are small – or have negative balances – the effectiveness of a large military on foreign policy is eviscerated.

To: GST who wrote (151370)	11/10/2004 8:51:11 PM
From: Michael Watkins	Respond to of 281500

Our foreign policy has roots that extend deeply into economic and environmental issues I could not agree more. Everything ultimately comes down to economic wants and needs and policy thereof. As a start I've mentioned in passing a few times our need to get a handle on domestic energy policies - the current plan is far too much "more of the same" except start drilling in new places. The global economic picture is going to get pretty darn murky, perhaps even quickly so, if the "Peak Oil" folks and their curve are anywhere near the current time line, especially as China is ramping up its energy use very quickly. India can't be far behind. Looking forward to discussing the bigger picture.