S268667300000616-7-1

Article

Published

Issue 4 (580)

106-119

"The Big Stick. The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force" by Eliot A. Cohen might be regarded as a kind of "strategic cheat sheet" for American presidents (the current one inclusive) to help them better understand the necessity of adjustment of their political line to strategic priorities, swift and dramatic changes taking place in the system of international relations. The author analyzes the attempts of the "hawks" in Congress, Pentagon lobbyists, and the military-industrial complex "envoys" to mobilize the traditional arguments in favor of the "hard power" supporters. They tirelessly defend their point about the need to modernize and develop military capabilities, including conventional, non-conventional and nuclear weapons especially in the light of the military budget increase. Straightaway after B. Obama left the White House, the supporters of the "hard power" have already started with might and main to demand its broader use in the contrast to Obama's foreign policy, his altogether non-violent type, less costly, intellectual, multifaceted and at the same time smart and complex strategy of "smart power", initiated by the U.S. Congress in 2008.

09.04.2018

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