The Foreign Service Journal, September 2014

26 SEPTEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL the most comprehensive outcome. Every trip and every conversation with foreign leaders and diplomats at every level was used to press a holistic vision. Each of the four confer- ences contributed to the larger campaign and explicitly built on the one that had taken place before it. The other key component of the diplomatic campaign’s regional strategy was based on the recognition that no regional structure in support of Afghanistan would suc- ceed without a strong economic component, including a key role for the private sector. Sec. Clinton announced the U.S. vision—a “New Silk Road”—at a speech in Chennai, India, on July 20, 2011. The American objective was to connect the vibrant economies in Central Asia with India’s economic suc- cess. With Afghanistan and Pakistan in the center, they could both benefit, first from transit trade and, ultimately, from direct investments. The New Silk Road vision highlights a compelling aspect of 21st-century diplomacy: acting as a “whole of government” on opportunities and challenges simultaneously. For exam- ple, a successful New Silk Road could increase the incentives for the insurgents to give up their fight by offering, at least for some of their fighters, an alternative way of thinking about the future. It could also promote the crucial role of women in development. In his book Monsoon , Robert Kaplan provides a view of the larger connections: “Stabilizing Afghanistan is about more than just the anti-terror war against al-Qaida and the Taliban; it is about securing the future prosperity of the whole of southern Eurasia.” The 2011-2012 diplomatic campaign in Afghanistan and Pakistan was not just a vehicle of policy, but also a way to think about the interaction of diplomacy with the other aspects of national power. As former British General Rupert Smith wrote in The Utility of Force : “The general purpose of all interventions is clear: We seek to establish in the minds of the people and their leaders that the ever-present option of conflict is not the preferable course of action when in con- frontation over some matter or another. To do this, military force is a valid option, a lever of intervention and influence, as much as economic, political and diplomatic levers; but to be effective, they must be applied as a part of a greater scheme focusing all measures on the one goal.” Global Challenges Today A survey of America’s global challenges points to the need for policies that press new ideas and simultaneously bring to bear all the elements of national power while remaining rooted in our values and philosophy. For example, the West’s answer to Mr. Putin in Ukraine is rightly focused on support- ing the creation of a strong Ukrainian state connected to the West, not tainted by corruption, ready to fight for itself (which President Petro Poroshenko seems inclined to do, at least for eastern Ukraine) and the threat of ever more severe sanctions on Russia, especially in answer to crimes like the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. A policy built on a long-term assessment of the West’s many simultaneous strengths in this battle would focus also on the need to create a relevant and robust vision for NATO’s future after Afghanistan. At the upcoming NATO summit in Wales, Pres. Obama has the chance to lay out new commit- ments to the alliance and reaffirm the enduring American role in Europe. Responding to Russia’s actions in a meaningful, long-term way also calls for a trans-Atlantic energy strategy that reduces the possibility of energy blackmail. Diversity of supply was a motivating factor in U.S. support for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which brings Central Asian oil to world markets. Europeans have reduced their dependence on Russian gas. But more can be done, such as resurrecting Western sup- port for an East-West energy corridor connecting the Cau- casus and Central Asia to world markets and renewing the American commitment to the North American Energy Initia- tive with Canada and Mexico. The U.S. is helping Ukraine and other European countries build up natural gas storage and find gas supplies in Africa. The United States can itself move to export U.S. natural gas to increase world supply and further reduce the chances of Gazprom blackmail. While these steps My recall to the State Department gave me the chance to pursue another fusion of national goals and instruments: the 2011-2012 diplomatic campaign in Afghanistan and Pakistan.