Big Think

Question: How should America use its power?

Armitage:    Well I’m on a . . . right now, a panel.  I co-chair a panel with Dr. Joe Nye, a friend and colleague, on organizing something we call “smart power”.  We all know what a “hard power” is.  We’ve seen it in Afghanistan.  We’ve seen it in Iraq.  But we have a lot of soft powers – everything from the power of our ideas, to the power of our society, to the power that can be generated by our technology which can be used for the general public good.  We are the richest nation in the world.  We can use that money for the alleviation of infectious diseases, and suffering and things of that nature.  So we have a lot.  We have the _________ pulpit.  When the United States speaks – still the only superpower – everyone has to listen.  So the manner in which we speak is very important.