Pedro Buonomo - el Harvard boy del pepe mujica

aleluya el pepe se puso una prótesis mental
Pedro Buonomo

 (51 años) realizó una maestría en Administración Pública con especialización en Macroeconomía y Finanzas en la Universidad de Harvard en EE.UU. el único integrante del Ministerio de Economía con maestría en Harvard, era Buonomo, que además era el único integrante del sector de Mujica (el MPP) en el edificio de Colonia y Paraguay por aquel entonces.

Lorenzo era el jefe de la Asesoría Macroeconómica cuando Buonomo integraba ésta en el gobierno pasado. A fines de 2007 Buonomo se fue a México a trabajar en la oficina del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID).Buonomo integró los llamados Núcleos de Base Líber Seregni, un grupo originalmente formado, entre otros, por Danilo Astori en los `80 que luego se escindió y formó parte de la Izquierda Democrática Independiente (IDI). Ya en 1985 se empezó a relacionar con integrantes del Movimiento de Liberación Nacional-Tupamaros que salían de la cárcel, como su líder Raúl Sendic.

El “equipo económico en las sombras” que alumbra a Mujica

Los choques entre los jerarcas de Economía y el presidente se hacen cada vez más habituales

+ - 28.11.2011, 12:08 hs - ACTUALIZADO 15:17Texto: -A / A+

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  Buonomo (arriba izq.), Frugoni (der.), Baráibar (abajo izq.) y Roca (abajo der)

Son, de alguna forma, el sujeto omitido de las ideas y políticas que el presidente José Mujica ha venido anunciando en materia económica y que tomaron  por sorpresa a los miembros del equipo económico que formalmente conduce el ministro Fernando Lorenzo pero que políticamente lidera el vicepresidente de la República, Danilo Astori.

Algunos le llaman “el equipo económico en las sombras”, otros simplemente “los hombres de Mujica”, y parece un hecho que el mandatario los consultó antes de tirar la idea de postergar o suspender la promesa electoral de eliminar dos puntos de IVA, y en su lugar bajar cinco puntos pero solo para los sectores más pobres.

Entre estos asesores se destacan Gabriel Frugoni, director de la Oficina de Planeamiento y Prespuesto, oficina que adquirió gran poder y en cuyas manos está buena parte de la aplicación de los acuerdos con privados para ejecutar obra pública. Otro es el sub director de esa oficina, Jerónimo Roca, experto tributarista. También juega un papel central Pedro Buonomo, que renunció a la subsecretaría de Economía, donde estaba a la sombra de Lorenzo, para pasar a desempeñarse como principal asesor del presidente.

Fuentes de la Presidencia dijeron a El Observador que la idea en torno al IVA es del propio Mujica, pero es un hecho que tuvo que consultarla técnicamente con sus hombres más cercanos.

“El presidente ha traído sus propias ideas y ha marcado la agenda. Lo que hace la OPP es tratar de asesorar en lo que el presidente cree conveniente”, dijo a fines de agosto Frugoni en declaraciones a El Observador cuando lo que estaba sobre la mesa eran las diferencias con el llamado impuesto a la tierra.

Así como tuvo que hacerlo con aquel impuesto, que no pudo evitar, Astori peregrinará hoy hasta la oficina de Mujica para escucharle una idea sobre el IVA que no solo no estaba en el libreto del equipo económico, sino que choca con lo que piensan sus conductores.

Astori dijo que se enteró por la edición de El Observador del sábado 26 que Mujica pretendía pedirle al Frente Amplio autorización para incumplir el programa de gobierno y suspender la rebaja generalizada del IVA.

Más allá de si Astori logra torcer la opinión del mandatario, o incluso matizarla, para los analistas el episodio implica un nuevo golpe sobre el equipo económico, y una mácula al consenso entre el presidente y los integrantes de este equipo que conduce la economía.

Técnicos del entorno de Astori se preguntan a esta altura del gobierno cuánto le importa a Mujica concederle al equipo económico liderado por el vicepresidente la supremacía en este asunto que ha tenido desde el 1 de marzo de 2005 con el primer gobierno frenteamplista.

http://www.elobservador.com.uy/noticia/214057/el-equipo-economico-en-las-sombras-que-alumbra-a-mujica/

la muerte del euro -"no hay que defender una idea estupida hasta su amargo final"

Euro Zone on the Brink

A Continent Stares into the Abyss

REUTERS

Part 3: Are Euro Bonds the Lesser Evil?

Many politicians in the euro zone believe that a different and less harmful miracle weapon could bring calm to the financial markets: jointly issued euro bonds. Speculators could no longer take aim at individual euro-zone countries, argue the proponents of euro bonds, and interest rates would be tolerable, because the strong countries would also guarantee the bonds. Supporters also argue that this would create a large, liquid market that would offer investors a true alternative to US treasury bonds.

Last week, European Commission President Barroso presented three possible options, much to the irritation of German Chancellor Merkel. Under the first proposal, there would only be common bonds with a uniform interest rate and joint guarantees. Under option two, a country could only borrow up to a limit equivalent to 60 percent of its GDP using euro bonds. With the third option, countries would only be liable for the common debt securities according to their relative size and economic strength. Germany would be responsible for the biggest share of liability, 27 percent, with the smallest share, 0.1 percent, going to Malta.

The third model could be introduced relatively quickly, but it's also the least effective. The other options would require amendments to the so-called Lisbon Treaty among European countries, because Article 125 of the treaty prohibits a member state from guaranteeing the debts of another member state.

Stopping Budget Offenders

The Germans also want an amendment to the EU treaties -- not to introduce euro bonds, but to make them unnecessary.

Berlin proposes amending the Lisbon Treaty in such a way that budget offenders could be stopped in time. This is intended to harmonize budgetary policies in the euro countries over time.

European Council President Van Rompuy is expected to submit proposals by the next Council summit on Dec. 9. However, ideas about these proposals diverge widely between Berlin and other capitals.

For this reason, Van Rompuy has already suggested postponing the discussion. But the German Chancellery is standing its ground. The Germans are concerned that if the discussion is postponed, they will be forced to make further financial concessions without having achieved any progress in achieving a so-called "stability union."

A possible compromise does exist, but it would put Merkel under considerable political pressure at home: The Germans get their amendment to the Lisbon Treaty in return for agreeing to the introduction of common bonds -- which the German government has vehemently rejected so far.

The Temptation of Cheap Money

German Finance Minister Schäuble believes that common bonds could only function if the member states of the monetary union were to relinquish a significant share of their sovereignty in terms of fiscal policy to a central European body. Otherwise, the Germans fear, euro bonds would provide the wrong incentives. They would benefit only those countries that are currently forced to pay high interest rates. Euro bonds would enable them to raise funds under significantly better terms.

The concern is that the cheap money could tempt the countries that are now ailing to let their reform efforts slide. Merkel and Schäuble also fear that Germany would end up bearing a greater financial burden with euro bonds and be held liable for countries with poor credit ratings. Germany is currently able to borrow money at lower rates than any other country in the euro zone. The yield on a 10-year German treasury bond is now at 2 percent. If the risk is distributed among all euro-zone countries, the German finance minister will find himself paying higher interest rates.

The costs can be substantial. Assuming a refinancing need of €300 billion, it would cost the government an additional €3 billion a year if rates went up by only one percentage point. And the amount would increase every year.

Proponents of common bonds consider these calculations to be too pessimistic. In fact, they anticipate the trend moving in the opposite direction. Because the market for euro bonds would be of a similar size to the market for American treasury bonds, euro bonds would become more attractive. Common bonds would thus promote the role of the euro as a reserve currency. Both effects would increase demand for the new bonds, which in turn would bring down yields. It remains unclear whether this effect could offset the increase in interest rates.

Increasingly Isolated

Either way, Merkel and Schäuble aren't even interested in taking the plunge, at least not voluntarily.

They have now become relatively isolated with their position. Most other countries openly advocate euro bonds, and large segments of both the European Parliament and the European Commission are in favor of the bonds.

Nevertheless, government insiders believe that it is inconceivable that Merkel will relent. But should the crisis continue to escalate, possibly spreading to core nations of the euro zone, she will hardly be able to resist the pressure.

From the standpoint of domestic policy, Chancellor Merkel could hardly risk accommodating outside demands at this point. She is anxious to avoid anything that could provide the euroskeptics in the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), the coalition partner to her center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with new arguments. But proponents of euro bonds expect that, given that the FDP leadership managed to convince the party base to support the permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), it would ultimately also accept jointly issued bonds.

Alarm Signals

The only question is whether it will be too late by then. The credibility of the instrument depends primarily on Germany's solvency, especially now that other important countries with top credit ratings, like France and Finland, have come under fire from the markets in recent weeks.

Euro bonds would only appeal to investors if they were guaranteed by the German government. But there are growing doubts as to whether Germany could in fact shoulder the burden alone.

The first alarm signals became evident in the last few weeks. On Wednesday, the German government's financial agency failed to fully place a bond offering. Optimists attribute the weak response from investors to insufficient yields. Others see the development as the first indication that markets are beginning to lose confidence even in traditionally robust Germany -- and that investors are now not only pulling their money out of the peripheral countries, but out of the monetary union as a whole.

Time for a Messy Breakup?

There is growing skepticism in the financial markets over whether the euro can even be saved in the end. Last week, Britain's Financial Services Authority already called upon British banks to prepare themselves for the end of the monetary union.

But what would happen if the euro-zone countries returned to their old currencies? And how could it even be accomplished? Until recently, hardly any reputable economist had even considered such questions. The notion that the euro zone could break apart was regarded as an absurd idea.

That has now changed. Some experts even consider it advisable that highly indebted countries like Greece, Portugal and possibly even Italy withdraw from the common currency. Others are even looking at a plan B for Germany to withdraw from the euro and reintroduce the deutsche mark. Would having a breakup of the euro zone now, however messy, be preferable to letting things drag on?

Hans-Werner Sinn, president of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, is convinced that it would be the best thing for everyone involved if Greece were to return to the drachma. Greek banks would have to be closed for a week, all accounts, balance sheets and the government debt would be converted, and the drachma would then be devalued.

Are the Euro's Days Numbered?

Sinn argues that this would enable Greece to regain its competitiveness. Greek products would be marketable once again, and the tourists would return. Former ECB chief economist Otmar Issing also believes that this would justify the economic damage caused by such an operation.

Economists believe that the withdrawal of Greece, and possibly also Portugal, from the euro zone would have an important disciplinary effect. The euro zone would have demonstrated that it could not be blackmailed, which in turn would accelerate reforms in a country like Italy. The experts are also convinced that the monetary union would find it very difficult to cope with an Italian default.

In contrast, Hans-Joachim Voth, an economic historian who teaches in Barcelona, feels that the euro's days are numbered. He considers it advisable for economically strong countries like Germany to withdraw from the euro, because, so he argues, "not every stupid economic idea has to be defended to the bitter end." In theory, says Voth, the upcoming Christmas holidays could be a good time to take this step, because, as he argues, it's important to take the markets by surprise.

Dirk Meyer, a professor at the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg, also argues that the Germans should take the initiative and leave the euro zone as quickly as possible. He has even come up with a concrete time frame. Under his scenario, it begins on a Monday, or "Day X." On the preceding weekend, the government will have issued the surprise order that banks remain closed on this Day X. The bank holiday is needed to incorporate all savings and checking accounts into the changeover.

On Tuesday, banks and savings banks begin to stamp their customers' banknotes with forgery-proof magnetic ink. Inspectors would monitor Germany's borders and international capital transactions to ensure that foreigners do not bring any money into Germany to have it stamped there. As a result of the expected devaluation, euros that have been stamped in this manner would lose value. The government would have to provide aid to banks that have substantial receivables and assets abroad.

Time to Convert

After about two months, Germany would leave the euro zone and, through an amendment to its constitution, reintroduce its own currency, which could also be a new common currency with other former euro-zone members who had left the monetary union. A second bank holiday would be used to convert all accounts and bank balances to the new currency. All individuals and companies residing in or headquartered in Germany would be entitled to convert their euros into the new currency. However, at least another year would pass before the new banknotes were printed and distributed. Until then, the stamped euro banknotes would serve as the valid currency.

In his scenario, Meyer expects the new currency to gain up to 25 percent in value against the euro, which would adversely affect companies that are dependent on exports. The foreign assets of German investors denominated in euros would also lose value. According to Meyer, the losses would amount to upwards of €225 billion, with major investors like banks and insurance companies being especially hard hit.

Meyer estimates the total economic costs of the operation would be between €250 billion and €340 billion, or 10 to 14 percent of Germany's gross domestic product -- a high price indeed.

But, he argues, the damage would be even greater if Germany remained in the euro zone. Meyer believes that German taxpayers would face an additional annual burden of about €80 billion should a European "transfer union" come into existence.

Last Principles

But a government can hardly base its policies on projections and models, even if it feels that they are plausible. The consequences of a breakup of the monetary union would affect everyone immediately, whereas the impact of all other strategies, as dangerous and costly as they might be, would only be felt in the future.

Merkel's credo is that, "if the euro fails, Europe fails." And if she is serious about this sentence, a case can be made that she will do everything possible to save the common currency -- even something that she has ruled out until now.

Then, even the last principles Merkel has staunchly defended until now will fall by the wayside, namely that the monetary union is not a debt- and liability union -- and that the euro cannot be defended with the money presses.

REPORTED BY MARTIN HESSE, DIRK KURBJUWEIT, ARMIN MAHLER, ALEXANDER NEUBACHER, RALF NEUKIRCH, CHRISTIAN REIERMANN, MATHIEU VON ROHR, MICHAEL SAUGA AND CHRISTOPH SCHULT

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

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• Part 1: A Continent Stares into the Abyss
• Part 2: A Buyers' Strike on Euro-Zone Debt
• Part 3: Are Euro Bonds the Lesser Evil?

Ai Weiwei el artista que desafia a la dictadura comunista

Ai Weiwei

'Shame on Me'

DER SPIEGEL

The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei speaks about the changes in his life since the end of his detention in June and shows himself moved and surprised by a new culture of protest in his country.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,799302,00.html

Liao Yiwu - "China es un pais de criminales"

Testimony of Torture

Chinese Dissident Exposes Prison Brutality

By Susanne Beyer

dapd

Chinese poet Liao Yiwu recently moved to Germany, where his books are best-sellers. His self-imposed exile has allowed him to finally publish his memoir, which reveals the abuses and torture he suffered during his years in prison. The book is a shocking indictment of the Chinese justice system.

The old man seemed unflappable as he spoke. Sitting in a wheelchair, his wooden cane always close at hand and his thick, silvery gray shock of hair as neatly parted as ever, he talked about China, presenting himself as someone who knew the place well, having been there 12 or 15 times. "I admire what China has accomplished since Mao Zedong's death in 1976," he said.

But he didn't stop there. He continued on to say that, while it's true China isn't a democracy, the country has nonetheless managed to create an economic boom for itself, with the result that "hardly anyone living in China today could say they aren't doing better now than at any other point in their lives." This is "an enormous accomplishment," he added, and Chinese communism has been "successful." Then he raised his index finger, and, stabbing it in the air, said, in a reference to a famous quote by the Prussian king Frederick the Great: "They have the right to find their salvation in their own way."

This 92-year-old man wasn't just chatting by a fireplace somewhere, nor was he just anyone. The man in question was former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, celebrated as the grandfather of the nation. And Schmidt said all this as a guest on Germany's most important talk show, sitting across from Günther Jauch, the country's most respected talk-show host. At his side was the man who has set his sights on becoming the next chancellor, Peer Steinbrück. The talk-show host said nothing at all in response to Schmidt's theories, but quickly changed the subject. Steinbrück, for his part, suggested the theories were "in need of some fleshing out," then praised Western-style democratic rule of law in a roundabout way.

Schmidt got away with his statements without criticism, in front of more than 5 million viewers, and with applause from the studio audience.

An Interesting Conversation Partner

The former chancellor certainly appeared sprightly on that talk show three weeks ago, and considering the fact that he seems to be constantly out and about and meeting people, perhaps he could -- though it's just a suggestion -- spare a little time for someone who might make an interesting conversation partner: the friendly 53-year-old Chinese man who has written the year's most brutal and shocking book, and insists every word in it is true.

The man is Liao Yiwu and the book lays out his recollections from nearly four years spent in Chinese prisons, following his arrest and conviction for writing a poem called "Massacre" in response to the bloody suppression of the 1989 demonstrations at Beijing's Tiananmen Square. His latest book, published in German as "Für ein Lied und hundert Lieder" ("For a Song and a Hundred Songs"), is an eyewitness report from the epicenter of human rights abuse, a volume that overflows with blood, urine and excrement.

"Admiration" for China? "The right to find their salvation in their own way?" Liao Yiwu was astonished when told about the former chancellor's statements. He asked whether Schmidt really uttered those precise words, then shook his head.

On Thursday of last week, Liao had just arrived in Munich after a book tour in the United States, in order to accept the Geschwister Scholl literary prize for his prison memoir on Nov. 14. He found his way, exhausted and shivering in the cold, to a restaurant in Munich's English Garden for this interview, but when he heard Schmidt's words quoted, he was suddenly wide awake.

Anyone who talks that way is afraid of jeopardizing trade with China, he said, but such people bring "bad thoughts into the world." If trade is more important than human rights and dignity, "then the end of the world has arrived." And no one should deceive themselves about the Communist Party, he said. "It has a golden body and two faces. It shows the Chinese people its fierce face, and the West its pleasant one."

Multiple Versions

Liao Yiwu described that fierce side in his book. He was forbidden to publish it in China or abroad, but S. Fischer Verlag, a German publishing house, was interested in releasing it this summer. Another of Liao's books, published in English as "The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories, China from the Bottom Up," had been well received in Germany two years before. In that book, Liao records his conversations with China's poor and disenfranchised, the toilet cleaners and migrant workers, and those persecuted for their political views.

Liao was forced to write multiple versions of his prison memoir. The first version, hand-written and his only copy of the work, was confiscated by the police. So was the second. For the third version, he was able to write on a computer and save back-up copies. After investing so many years in the work, Liao was determined to see it published in Germany. He fled China for Berlin in early July, and the book was released later the same month.

His escape saved not only the book, but himself as well, Liao said. If he had stayed in China, the book couldn't have been published. And if it had been published, he would have been put on trial. And then it would have started all over again.

'Open Fire'

Liao writes in his book that he was a "romantic" before he went to prison, a successful young poet in China during the 1980s, talented, but naïve and apolitical.

The turning point for him came on June 4, 1989, with the massacre at Tiananmen Square. The words poured out of him, and "Massacre" was the result.

Open fire, open fire, open fire
Shoot women, students and children
Shoot workers, teachers and vendors
Riddle them with bullets
[…]
Wipe out the flowers, forest, school campuses, love, and the pure air
Shoot, shoot and shoot…
I feel good and I feel high

Liao's taped recording of the poem circulated among dissidents. In 1990, he was arrested and taken to an interrogation prison. "They exposed my head, then my body. The (prisoners appointed as guards) examined the clothing they'd torn from my body, centimeter by centimeter, then piled it up nearby. Only then did they examine my mouth, my armpits and the soles of my feet. I clutched both my empty fists at my sides, then moved instinctively to pull up the pants that weren't there, when their leader ordered me to stick out my bottom -- and, with the utmost care, inserted a bamboo stick into my anus."

"I hadn't been exposed to the gaze of others this way, without a stitch of clothing on my body, since I was a baby. The exhibition lasted about seven minutes, but it was longer than an entire lifetime … God damn it, I hadn't thought the first blow would already bring me to my knees."

Beaten with Batons

He was kept in a cell near the latrines, and from there taken to his interrogations. The guards beat him with electric batons, one time delivering 100 blows in a single interrogation, another time for 20 minutes without pause. They cuffed his hands behind his back, once for 23 days straight. The handcuffs were often too tight, causing his hands to swell and the metal to dig into his skin.

There was a clear hierarchy among the prisoners, about 20 of them were held in "a bit more than 20 square meters" (215 square feet). The higher-ranking prisoners were waited on by the lower-ranking ones. There were the "pleasure servants," feminine young men with pretty faces who sang and danced for the higher-ranking prisoners, slept naked beside them and performed sexual favors. Then there were the torturers, merciless with their defenseless victims.

A so-called "menu" circulated among the prisoners, offering 45 "dishes," each a description of a different method of torture. "Twice-roasted meat, served on a steel plate: First, the victim's naked back is pricked at random with bamboo needles, causing thousands of punctures. These are strewn with salt, then the entire thing taped up in bandages. Once the blood has clotted, the bandages are torn off."

Liao Yiwu left prison a broken man, and China's enemy. In one poem, he describes his "fatherland" as a "country of criminals" and exclaims, "I want to see you in prison. I want you, too, to see how it feels to have your hands bound at your back." He asks whether the country wants "for your people to love you like a prostitute loves her client."

No More Potatoes

Writing gives him dignity. He's no longer afraid. And life is about survival.

He feels lost even during the days in Munich leading up to the acceptance of his award, although he has friends here with him. But how can he feel joyful, given his history? How can he, when a friend he has felt closely connected to for 30 years is in prison? Author and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, one of the individuals who signed the Charter 08 human rights manifesto, was sentenced in 2009 to 11 years' imprisonment for "inciting subversion of state power." Liao Yiwu thinks of his friend every day. Is he being tortured with electric batons this very minute?

At the restaurant in Munich, Liao orders a fish stew, but leaves half of it uneaten. "It's the potatoes," says the friend sitting next to him. "There were always potatoes in prison. Now he can't force them down."

Translated from the German by Ella Ornstein

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,797833,00.html

Uruguay tiene una democracia superior a la de Argentina y Brasil

English: A map of the world showing the results of The Economist's Democracy Index survey for 2010. Each country's democracy is rated on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 the least democratic. Hong Kong (score 5.85) was also included in the survey but is not visible on this map.

Key:
Full democracies:

   9-10

   8-8.9

Flawed democracies:

   7-7.9

   6-6.9

Hybrid regimes:

   5-5.9

   4-4.9

Authoritarian regimes

   3-3.9

   2-2.9

   0-1.9

Insufficient information, no rating

  

aceite de oliva “Bidondo”, con sello de Andresito - Flores

La presentación del aceite de oliva “Bidondo”, con sello de Andresito Una de las particularidades salientes de los festejos de Andresito estará señalada por la presentación del producto de la segunda cosecha de aceite de oliva realizada en tierras de esta zona, en el establecimiento del Ing. Agrim. Pablo Bidondo ubicado a poca distancia de las orillas del lago del Arroyo Grande. Las dos variedades de aceite de oliva “Bidondo” será expuesto en la Expo y presentado en envases de distintos tamaños (medio litro, 400 gramos, 250 gramos, 100 gramos y 40 gramos). El emprendimiento familiar-artesanal dio comienzo en el año 2005 pero adquirió perfil propio en el 2006 con un total de 700 plantas, iniciándose un proceso de desarrollo que ha tenido ya cuatro períodos de plantación, alcanzándose los 1.600 olivos, cuyo laboreo es realizado en su totalidad por gente de la zona. La empresa tuvo el año pasado su primera producción y en el 2011 logra una mayor cosecha, lo que le ha permitido aumentar los volúmenes y proyectar a la esfera comercial a este aceite “extra virgen” con el sello de Andresito, del departamento de Flores. La cosecha de este año fue de más de mil quilos de aceitunas y se elaboraron 250 litros de aceite, con cuya cantidad se podría abastecer el mercado local. Publicado: 11/11/2011 00:11
http://www.ecosregionales.net/?edicion=1621&noticia=18013

smart and soft power - Joseph Nye

 “Success depends not only on whose army wins, but also on whose story wins,” 
Nye  2005 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Nye

The 2008 TRIP survey of 1700 international relations scholars ranked him as the sixth most influential scholar of the past twenty years, and the most influential on American foreign policy.

Smart Power

Joseph Nye

Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University and Author

Posted: November 29, 2007 06:43 PM

Read More: 9/11, CSIS, CSIS Smart Power Commission, Pentagon, Post-9/11, Richard Armitage, Robert Gates, Smart Power, Soft Power, War On Terror, Politics News
The United States needs to rediscover how to be a "smart power." That was the conclusion of a bipartisan commission that I recently co-chaired with Richard Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state in the Bush administration. A group of Republican and Democratic members of Congress, former ambassadors, retired military officers and heads of non-profit organizations was convened by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. We concluded that America's image and influence had declined in recent years, and that the United States had to change from exporting fear to inspiring optimism and hope. The CSIS Smart Power Commission is not alone in this conclusion. Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for the U.S. government to commit more money and effort to soft power tools including diplomacy, economic assistance and communications because the military alone cannot defend America's interests around the world. He pointed out that military spending totals nearly half a trillion dollars annually compared with a State Department budget of $36 billion. In his words, "I am here to make the case for strengthening our capacity to used soft power and for better integrating it with hard power." He acknowledged that for the head of the Pentagon to plead for more resources for the State Department was as odd as a man biting a dog, but these are not normal times. Smart power is the ability to combine hard and soft power into a successful strategy. By and large, the United States managed such a combination during the Cold War, but more recently U.S. foreign policy has tended to over-rely on hard power because it is the most direct and visible source of American strength. The Pentagon is the best trained and best resourced arm of the government, but there are limits to what hard power can achieve on its own. Promoting democracy, human rights and development of civil society are not best handled with the barrel of a gun. It is true that the American military has an impressive operational capacity, but the practice of turning to the Pentagon because it can get things done leads to an image of an over-militarized foreign policy. Diplomacy and foreign assistance are often under-funded and neglected, in part because of the difficulty of demonstrating their short term impact on critical challenges. In addition, wielding soft power is difficult because many of America's soft power resources lie outside of government in the private sector and civil society, in its bilateral alliances, multilateral institutions, and transnational contacts. Moreover, American foreign policy institutions and personnel are fractured and compartmentalized and there is not an adequate inter-agency process for developing and funding a smart power strategy.
 The effects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks have thrown us off course. Since the shock of 9/11, the United States has been exporting fear and anger rather than our more traditional values of hope and optimism. Guantanamo has become a more powerful global icon than the Statue of Liberty. The CSIS Smart Power Commission acknowledged that terrorism is a real threat and likely to be with us for decades, but we pointed out that over-responding to the provocations of extremists does us more damage than the terrorists ever could. The commission argued that success in the struggle against terrorism means finding a new central premise for American foreign policy to replace the current theme of a "war on terror." A commitment to providing global public goods can provide that premise. For more details, see the report on the CSIS website.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2011/10/chinas-communist-party