Monday, November 15, 2004On picking the next Secretary of State:Diplomacy is war by other means. And war is diplomacy by other means. Both axioms are ripe for pilfering and both are critical for understanding what is called for in selecting a Secretary of State. Wags have long quipped that they'd like a Department of Peace instead of a Department of War. But the State Department filled that vacuum long ago, making it its mission to stop war anytime, anyplace at any cost. There have been a few periods though where the folks at the top got parts of the State Department working for the United States' interests, rather than fuzzy notions of global harmony. Two such periods were the institution of the Marshall plan and the peak of the Reagan Administration. In both cases, it was understood that advancing our interests and undermining the intrigue and perceived glamor of communism was necessary to the protection of the free world. Communism was fought to its surrender without shots being fired between the lead actors in the struggle. The military standoff served to dramatize for its leaders the impossibility of challenging us. But it's the culture war that prepared the terrain. Blue jeans and rock and roll undermined the idolatry of state as surely as our arms buildup undermined its potentialities. In the war against Islamism, the cultural component is even more important than it was in the fight against communism. Too many "enemy soldiers" are not worried about military inferiority because they're only in it to die anyway. Which means that while we suppress the worst of the militants with arms, this one can only be won in the hearts and minds of the people on the ground. That doesn't call for lots more aid. It doesn't call for understanding why they want to blow us up and seeking ways to feel their pain. It calls for America to get its marketing mentality on track and make it clear that Islamism is for passé losers. It's time to dust off "I'd like to buy the world a Coke..." and let it be known that a culture can't even survive, let alone thrive, if it doesn't understand the sex appeal of the crack of a pop-top lid opening and the foam bursting out, followed by the rush of caffeine and the burst of sugary energy. Pepsi? Coke? Take your pick. Starbucks in the morning. But if you don't get a drink in the morning till you're finished with the milking, well, that's just so totally uncool! The next Secretary of State will be, as all Secretaries of State are, America's second most important pitchman - or woman - after the President. One recalls Steve Forbes pushing Voice of America. He's the probably the wrong pitchman, but he got what was going on. We need someone with a similarly passionate belief in America. Someone who can wage war on the publicity front, reminding that our cause is just, our cause is true, our cause is... cool. There's a lot of talk about using the State Department post to reach out to the left. Bipartisan gesture and all that nonsense. If you want to just give up on State altogether - and some on the Right do - then why not? But State can be a valuable tool for us if we use it wisely. Which is why the only sane across the aisle appointment would be Joseph Lieberman, a guy who knows we're trying to do right even when we screw it up and would presumably be earnest in his pleading of our cause. Condi Rice is a pretty good choice, though she might be better at Defense. According to the Merc, though, she's ready to come back to Palo Alto now. Where she goes and what she wants depends on where she sees her career arc going. In the past, State was the prestige post, but today Defense might be the better stepping stone to the Vice-Presidency if Cheney resigns midterm, and depending on her intentions and events in Iraq, that could make 2008 really interesting. Still, Rice is a strategizer, rather than a seller, which is why she belongs at Defense. Bush could do something really unusual and interesting with this appointment (and I'm writing as fast as I can since this idea will surely be a few more electrons of science fiction within 48 hours): Pick a salesman or saleswoman to sell America. Forget about diplomats and pols schooled in making nice with other diplomats and pols. Let's get someone who has real experience selling what America's about. So... who sells America? Well, there are Schwarzenegger and Stallone (the first with a Kissinger accent to boot!) There are America boosters like Steve Forbes, though as I said I'm not sure I buy it. But if you really want someone experienced selling America, howzabout a guy whose company sold the sort of household appliances that defined the American middle class way of life? Or maybe somebody in transportation - helping Americans get around the country and America get around in the world. Or somebody who ran one of those financial businesses that helped small businesses grow and ordinary citizens purchase the trappings of modern American life. Or maybe, call me crazy, somebody who was involved in the entertainment industry - say, ran the most popular television network in the country... Okay, I don't know where he stands on Bush or the war, but wouldn't you love to turn on the television and see Jack Welch explaining to Dominique de Villepin why his latest idea just won't sell? Welch probably isn't the best choice. Nor are Schwarzenegger or Stallone. But a visionary appointment at State would show one thing - flair. Whether going for someone brash, someone bold, someone smooth or someone plainspoken, we need someone who can and will make the pitch and know that he's selling the real thing. 
posted by gbarto at 4:09 PM |
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