The Opportunity II

Finished reading The Opportunity last night. I think that Richard Haass, with a few exceptions (such as energy policy where he favors heavy government involvement), lays out a great vision of U.S. foreign policy. This part stood out to me:

Employing military force to bring about regime change is not a viable option. Using more indirect tools to bring about regime evolution might well work, but this, too, will take years if not decades. We must adjust expectations to a long-term approach and abandon the fantasy of a quick fix. The tools of regime evolution range from using television and radio and the Internet to brining countries into the WTO on terms that require fundamental economic and indirectly political reforms.

Rhetorical support for change can also help, although it is no substitute for policy. But integration itself can be an important instrument of regime evolution. Economic and political incentives should be made available if policies are adopted that reduce threats posed and that create more freedom and space for independent economic and political activity; in the absence of such changes, targeted sanctions may be appropriate.

Trade and exchanges can open a society to new ideas. Over the past few decades we have seen literally dozens of successful regime evolution involving the former Soviet bloc and much of Latin America and Asia; there is no reason such patterns could not be repeated elsewhere if the outside world is prepared to make the investment and take the necessary time. Odious or dangerous regimes should never be neglected, but the safest and best way to encourage their modification or even their implosion is to smother them in the policy of integration.

I think this is absolutely correct. It makes me wonder what it says about the Bush Administration that this guy no longer works there.