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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Want to Win Wars? Fund Soft Power, Trump's Generals Say |
| 2017-03-04 |
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| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #13 Soft power is a nation that is confident in itself rather than having half the nation screaming (in movies and media) that that nation is satan incarnate and incapable of judging others. Yes, we could use more of that. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2017-03-04 20:40 |
| #12 Only when the ideology that is Islam has been thoroughly repudiated will civilization again have a chance to florish. Since the adherents of Islam aren't interested in an actual debate, crush their fucking souls and demolish their palaces and mosques. Then, and only then, can we begin to worry about playing nice. |
| Posted by: Crusader 2017-03-04 18:48 |
| #11 Soft power and diplomacy against the ISIS head-loppers? I think not. Is there really any useful purpose in trying to negotiate and use soft power with groups like ISIS? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2017-03-04 17:18 |
| #10 'Soft Power' as practiced by the West since 2001 is provocative weakness. 'Soft Power' means perpetual militarization of Western public spaces, the imposition of perpetual draconian police state surveillance and harassment on Western populations and the submission of Westerners to Sharia Finlandization because we don't want to give offense. 'Soft Power' is also provoking third parties to adopt a much more aggressive posture vis-a-vis a West perceived as meek and submissive and masochistic. Hence war in Eastern Europe and the prospect of a big and nasty WMD war in East Asia. 'Soft Power' has been tried and failed miserably. </rant> |
| Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 2017-03-04 17:00 |
| #9 Soft power has its uses, but it usually needs hard power to back it up. Who has more cultural power right now -- militant Islam or the Enlightenment? |
| Posted by: charger 2017-03-04 12:38 |
| #8 Interesting, budget times they want a WWII military every year, but don't want a WWII victory included in the strategy. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2017-03-04 09:12 |
| #7 There really isn't a useful alternative to winning. Somebody wins and somebody loses. PC is not a good idea. Never threaten and never warn. Think it out then find 'em, Fix 'em in the right place to your advantage, fight 'em, and Finish 'em. Carry an extra mag...or two. Let their friends bury them. Count and catalog their friends. |
| Posted by: Jack Flaise1350 2017-03-04 08:55 |
| #6 A political solution is when you knock the other guy down, stick a gun (or a spear point --- this been going on for a looong time) in his face, and say "If you can behave, maybe I won't kill you now". |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-03-04 08:43 |
| #5 It is also about the “and then what?”...“The grievances of the civil war have to be addressed, Oh crap. Not this shit again. Tell you what General Doofus, when you get to "THEN" see where you are and what will work best for OUR goals. This is like a football coach worrying and planning at half time for how the 2 minute drive at the end of the game will play out and not paying attention to the fact that his team is losing or winning by 35. You think that might make a difference? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2017-03-04 08:23 |
| #4 “We do need to have a vision of how our military actions set conditions on the ground that actually then become the platform from which Secretary Tillerson goes to Geneva to come up with a political solution.” Not surprisingly the political aspiring generals have defaulted to the diplomatic, global view. Diplomacy failed, hence the flying projectiles. Even a dog is generally wise enough not to return to his own vomit. If there is to be one, let the victor dictate the policy. Not Geneva. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-03-04 05:23 |
| #3 Just because it haven't worked so far, doesn't mean it useless --- that's because of its solid theoretical background. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-03-04 02:42 |
| #2 The State Department is a failure and must be rebuilt. That whole State Department "soft power" illusion is just that... All you have to do to gauge the failure of "soft power" is review the debacles documented by the SIGAR (Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction)...and look at Iraq. |
| Posted by: Tennessee 2017-03-04 01:56 |
| #1 yes soft power is needed but you know what's needed more? strong borders and proper immigration policy that does not let in mass migrants from non-Western cultures. we need to rest and stabilise our cultures. Military solutions can't work without this and nor can soft power because those who benefit from the system will fight you internally like the fifth column they are soft power can only work if your government backs you up by stopping the migration in of the enemy, and prosecuting for treason those who push sharia. stage 1 is to protect the homeland then stage 2 of projecting soft power out can work you cannot project soft power if your own centre is rotting |
| Posted by: anon1 2017-03-04 00:10 |