Lexington | Chuck Hagel's world

摘要

Even in cash-strapped times, America's defence secretary does not so much travel overseas as make an imperial progress. The Pentagon's boss flies aboard an airborne command post originally built to run nuclear wars, crammed with scores of aides, and often escorted by mid-air refuelling tankers. The plane's antiquity adds an extra superpower frisson. With its clunky gadgets and cold-war decor it feels like a set from Dr Strangelove, jammed into a Boeing 747. In an America tired of war, the Pentagon knows that it needs new missions. Trade and diplomacy duly dominated planning for the most recent foreign trip made by Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator who has served as Barack Obama's defence secretary since 2013. The expected highlight was a stop in India to woo the newly elected government of Narendra Modi (a Hindu nationalist with no special love of America). There were to be talks about such shared concerns as China's rise and Afghan stability after American combat troops leave in 2016. Officials hoped to flog India some weapons. After years of slogging combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, Team Obama yearns to engage more with Asia and other dynamic regions, and to talk about something other than war. Alas, when planning foreign policy, the rest of the world gets a vote.