Comments on: British Leadership Without a Clue http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/06/24/british-leadership-without-a-clue/ News & Commentary on Warfare, Policy and Counterterrorism Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:35:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Warbucks http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/06/24/british-leadership-without-a-clue/#comment-25930 Warbucks Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:39:41 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1167#comment-25930 There is another strategy touching on hard power versus soft power that seems too late to employ right at the moment for Afghanistan but early on I thought it should have been employed. I’m not certain it would work but here is the theory right or wrong. HARD POWER: When we first went into Afghanistan, we seal it off and clean it up. We focus just on this one country. SOFT POWER: We then spend our resources to maintain the peace while we turn Afghanistan into the jewel of the Middle East. We set one example for everyone else making the statement: Look at what freedom and democracy brings. One of the biggest problems in the entire middle east is countries are either rich or poor. Afghanistan is poor. Poor Islamic countries currently are encapsulated inside Islamic religious constraints and have no access to Western financial markets and Western Banking systems. We break this mold and build a new mold. Bring in (a) street smart western bankers, (b) open minded clerics, and (c) government representatives and hammer out new economic structures and procedures for poor Islamic countries to gain access to Western financial markets. Without compatible banking systems poor countries will always be encapsulated inside the Islamic tribal dependencies and inside the religious factions, and inside the common restrictions against paying interest (sabat). Change the element and soft power becomes feasible. There is another strategy touching on hard power versus soft power that seems too late to employ right at the moment for Afghanistan but early on I thought it should have been employed. I’m not certain it would work but here is the theory right or wrong.

HARD POWER: When we first went into Afghanistan, we seal it off and clean it up. We focus just on this one country.

SOFT POWER: We then spend our resources to maintain the peace while we turn Afghanistan into the jewel of the Middle East. We set one example for everyone else making the statement: Look at what freedom and democracy brings.

One of the biggest problems in the entire middle east is countries are either rich or poor. Afghanistan is poor. Poor Islamic countries currently are encapsulated inside Islamic religious constraints and have no access to Western financial markets and Western Banking systems. We break this mold and build a new mold. Bring in (a) street smart western bankers, (b) open minded clerics, and (c) government representatives and hammer out new economic structures and procedures for poor Islamic countries to gain access to Western financial markets. Without compatible banking systems poor countries will always be encapsulated inside the Islamic tribal dependencies and inside the religious factions, and inside the common restrictions against paying interest (sabat). Change the element and soft power becomes feasible.

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