Will Hutton: Soft Power a match for Hard Men

[malaise]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2052618,00.html

<snip>
And yet... Beyond the imagery and the jingoism lies, at least in relation to Iran, an unappreciated success that points the way to more. After all, the sailors are home and there has been no deal. Better still, the Iranian government, obviously looking for a propaganda coup, has revealed itself as a government prepared to flout international law and mistreat prisoners in its quest for an accommodation. Britain has clawed back a little of its shattered reputation and kept its head. Indeed, by arguing, talking and repudiating sabre-rattling, we have, paradoxically, weakened Iran's argument that it is an injured innocent and strengthened our own that the international community should be watchful of this power and its nuclear ambitions. Soft power works.

For it's 2007. Conflict is conducted very differently, as Blair has learnt the hard way. Shock-and-awe military tactics in the unilateral imposition of power may appeal to the video game mentality of the US military and political establishment, but they have created a torrid mess. This time round, with only weeks left in his prime ministership, Blair refused Bush's offer of ratcheting up the military pressure on Iran by overflying Republican Guard positions; he even persuaded Bush to tone down the US's planned military build-up. He unashamedly focused on soft power.