Lesson for Democrats: ‘Soft Power’ Relies on U.S. Military
They should not let Trump’s disdain for diplomacy lead them to undervalue the armed forces.
Hard power helps U.S. “soft power” goals.
Photographer: U.S. Navy/Getty Images
President Donald Trump has a talent for latching onto bad ideas that elicit opposing bad ideas from his critics. For a recent example, look no further than the debate about the relationship between American military power and American diplomacy.
Since day one, the Trump administration has been disdainful of diplomacy and other tools of “soft power.” In 2017, the administration unveiled what Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, called a “hard power” budget — one that increased military spending but proposed crippling cuts to the State Department and the foreign-aid budget.