In The Arena

摘要

"Power is getting people or groups to do something they don't want to do," writes Leslie H. Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, in his new book, Power Rules. It seems an aggressively simplistic thought for a member of the foreign policy priesthood. But Gelb doesn't define power merely as the use or threat of force. (In fact, he argues, wars usually occur when the creative use of power has failed.) Power is a combination of factors-military, diplomatic, economic, moral-that give a country the ability to make its way in the world. Gelb believes that most recent Presidents have used power foolishly, squandering it-which is something Barack Obama should bear in mind as he goes forth to meet with the world's leaders in Europe the first week in April. The new President has shown a predilection for diplomacy, a subtle strategic sense of the world.