Dexter Filkins writing in the April 11 issue of NYT writes about the militarization of foreign policy and how this appears to be slowly changing:
"In the nearly eight years since the 9/11 attacks, the foreign policy of the United States has often appeared to be an exclusively military affair, if not always conducted by men with guns then practiced by civilians not shy in reminding their foes that they had force at their disposal. The diplomats, for the most part, watched from afar. […] The reassertion by civilian leaders is being led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has promised to restore the State Department’s centrality in the making of foreign policy. […] She has a long way to go. According to an article in the January-February issue of Foreign Affairs by J. Anthony Holmes, there are more musicians playing in military bands than there are diplomats working around the globe. The Pentagon’s budget is 24 times larger than the State Department’s and USAID combined, Mr. Holmes found. For the recent trip to the subcontinent, Mr. Holbrooke flew on a Pentagon jet."
- Civilians Reassert Themselves in U.S. Foreign Policy NYT, April 11, 2009
- Where are the Civilians? How to Rebuild the US Foreign Service J. Anthony Holmes, Foreign Affairs Jan/Feb 2009
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