Obama Needs a Reset Button on His Own Foreign-Policy Machine: The U.S. president may be a 21st-century leader, but his government is still stuck in the Cold War - Zachary Karabell, Foreign Policy

Obama Needs a Reset Button on His Own Foreign-Policy Machine: The U.S. president may be a 21st-century leader, but his government is still stuck in the Cold War - Zachary Karabell, Foreign Policy:

The Cold War was a struggle that called upon all of those resources, and at times, it was the least costly of those -- ideas -- that were the most effective. Today, with the old world of America, Europe, and Japan economically challenged, with the general contours of market capitalism nearly universally embraced, and with foreign aid a shell of what is was, U.S. foreign policy has essentially been reduced to one tool: guns. In short, the United States is conducting its affairs abroad with a 20th-century tool kit, an antiquated mindset, and poorly allocated resources. The most pressing issue for America's long-term security is the health and dynamism of its economy. And the way U.S. diplomats conduct foreign policy is almost devoid of tools to enhance that.