诛仙3 北斗七星:US chooses smart power over weapons on Libya issue - People's Daily Online

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US chooses smart power over weapons on Libya issue

17:15, April 08, 2011      

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On April 4 in Washington, U.S. Barack Obama announced he would run for a second term, and on the same day, the country decided it would no longer send fighters to strike Libya.

After the United States transferred the leadership of the coalition to NATO, its withdrawal from the Libyan battle field shows another Obama— one who is going to attempt to achieve re-election in 2012 without the baggage of another war.

Obviously, Obama shows the "smart power" of his country in a smart way this time.

As the first African-American president of United States, the first president to win a Nobel Prize while still in office and a U.S. President who has offered conciliatory gestures to Muslim countries many times in public, Obama did not want to announce a war against another Muslim nation while the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have not ended and the domestic economy has finally begun to rebound not to mention that the war may cause a dissension within the cabinet and opposing voices from outside.

However, since the U.N. authorized a no-fly-zone above Libya by any means necessary, and France and Britain led the air strike without hesitation, United States, as "the leader of the free world," cannot just let such an important thing go in front of its eyes, so it smartly used its "smart power" to join the coalition while not taking a not leading role despite the fact it does lead the military actions in Libya.

Obama knew the decision would definitely catch flak from endless critics, especially from some domestic tycoons, so he made a speech at the National Defense University of United States after 10 days of the first air strike in Libya.

He explained the necessity, correctness and validity of the military actions in Libya from many perspectives, including the United Nations authorization, the consent of the Arab world, that the United States would not play a leading role and that this was a multilateral action which would not require ground troops. He hoped that he could assuage the fears of domestic critics as well as relieve global pressure and show the special American power in contrast with the unilateral "Bush doctrine."

Apart from the above concepts, Obama also wanted to show American "smart power," which is the core of the current "Obama doctrine," by a new kind of intervention in Libya, with the United States playing a supporting role.

However, American military intervention was really driven by the changes in the situations of West Asia and North Africa from behind.

A huge tide of democracy that started from Tunisia and Egypt almost swept the entire Middle East and that made America and Western countries see the possibility of building a "democratic Middle East."

But they did not expect that the tide would stagnate in Libya and Qaddafi even drove the rebels up the wall. Under these circumstances, letting Qaddafi go could not only thoroughly discredit America and European countries but also stop the "democratic domino effect" in the Middle East and do harm to American interests.

Considering the current American problems, including economy recovery, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, its leading roles in global climate change and environmental protection and the fatigue among the American public over playing "political games" through military actions, Obama decided to play the "smart power" card this time through three steps – supporting actor, transferring leadership and pulling back military forces – because he knows his second presidency is much more important than getting involved in the Libyan issue.

By Wang Hanlu, People's Daily Online

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