“At the heart of smart power are smart people. And you are those smart people.”—Hillary Rodham Clinton on first day as Secretary of State to her new colleagues at the State Department, January 22, 2009.
A vapid note to get things rolling, to be sure. While no reasonable person can argue against the idea of using diplomacy before force—the definition of “Smart Power” as laid out by Secretary Clinton— the notion that labeling a new approach “smart” will be self-fulfilling is a hollow swallow, indeed.
The central problem with our governance is not a lack of smartness but wisdom: calm, measured consideration preceding action. Washington DC, while indeed stymied by flocks of pigeon-brained functionaries and other unmentionables, is full of smart people doing not-smart things and making a general mockery of “the people’s business.”
One needn’t look any farther than the last administration, widely considered in the short arc of immediate judgment to be the most disastrous in our history. But is Karl Rove not smart? What about Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice? Are these people lacking in intelligence or judgment?
Yes, smart people can fuck things up very badly. So for Secretary Clinton to to harp on a platitude like “smart power”, and to be so shameless as to extrapolate on it platitudinally, is not only absurd on its face, but worse, is reminiscent of the Bush rhetoric that the nation is so desperate to purge from its collective consciousness. Let’s hope that this statement is not indicative of the brand of candor and transparency we’ve been promised. If it is, we’re in for a long and shallow ride.
The only heartening thing to take from this statement about “Smart Power” is that it was not uttered by the President himself, who, in his deliberate and conciliatory responses to a tattered economy and a divided electorate, has proven himself to be possessed of that ever elusive and invaluable trait known as wisdom.
