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A matter of understanding

Posted by Bella on April 11, 2003

In Reply to: A matter of understanding posted by Miri Barak on April 11, 2003

Miri, what I get from this is, force used instead of charm/ability (think FDR or Reagan, who, whatever their detractors' opinions, had a certain way of attracting people despite drawbacks) has helped to lead to a loss of what was once our "place" in international relations.

Once upon a time, simply being an American gave us a certain 'cachet', a certain elegant freedom to behave in ways that negated, made unnecessary, any stronger methods of getting a desired result. Think Theodore Roosevelt's "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Now we sometimes just use the stick, and this has made us more unpopular than we have been for quite a while.

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