Word: soft
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...with the spotlight on, Schapiro is in the prickly position of having to defend her enforcement record. At her hearing, the soft-spoken Schapiro bristled at media reports that she "infrequently" pursued tough action against big Wall Street names, saying the stories painted an "unfair picture." While chief at FINRA, she countered, her team handled 15,000 enforcement cases, including big names like Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Merrill-Lynch and Lehman. "I have never been afraid to go after people I thought who have violated the public trust...
When it comes to soft power--the power to persuade, not coerce--things are little better. True, anti-Americanism is abating as brand Obama rejuvenates brand U.S.A. But popularity is not the same as power (ask Canada or Sweden). In the 1990s, American soft power was based on more than goodwill; it was based on economic and ideological hegemony. There was only one widely accepted path to prosperity--deregulated, American-style capitalism. And there was one central destination for a poor country seeking the investment and aid it needed to travel down that path: Washington. The U.S. and its allies...
...make matters worse, public support for the Afghan war has grown noticeably soft. The reason is that to most Americans, the war in Afghanistan has always been principally a war against al-Qaeda--to retaliate for 9/11 and eliminate its safe haven--not a war to build a centralized, democratic state in the Hindu Kush, which is a far harder thing. Obama is right to increase America's military, economic and diplomatic muscle in Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan, but that power surge will work only if he also sets more realistic expectations. Ultimately, the U.S. will have...
...doing so, the assessment report left no base uncovered. It noted that there are "scenarios of concern": the use of Iraq-style improvised explosive devices, Mumbai-style armed assault and hostage-taking, and suicide bombing. It said law-enforcement agencies should be watchful for lone offenders, attacks on soft targets (hotels, restaurants, transport, etc.) near the Capitol and explosives placed in "heavily trafficked areas...
...From the start, the soft-spoken but respected Senator Lugar, in his mildest, most diplomatic way, stated his concern that the former President's fundraising abroad might create an impression of a conflict of interest. "Foreign governments and entities may perceive the Clinton Foundation as a means to gain favor with the Secretary of State," he said. Therefore, he suggested, "even well-intentioned foreign donations [to the Clinton Foundation] carry risk for United States foreign policy...