AFTER THE COLD WAR,
the United States became a “hyperpower,” with the world’s strongest military force and leadership of a mighty alliance. Several decades on, things have changed, and two former secretaries of defense warn that U.S. leaders have not tended to the country’s valuable soft power assets. From the June 23, 2020, online program “Former U.S. Secretaries of Defense Robert Gates and James Mattis.” ROBERT GATES, Former U.S. Secretary of Defense; Author, Exercise of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World In conversation with JAMES MATTIS, Ret. United States Marine General; Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates
THE MILITARY CASE FOR USING NONMILITARY POWER Former Defense Secretaries Robert Gates and James Mattis explain
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THE COMMO N WE AL TH
JAMES MATTIS: Secretary Gates is my former boss, predecessor in office, and an inspiring role model. He was likened in one recent review as the rare foot soldier who rises to high command. Secretary Gates, in reading your book, one that I would be reassured were required reading for presidents and cabinet officers when they come into office, I was struck by you attributing a large part of America’s 25-year decline in status and prestige to the failure of post-Cold War presidents and Congresses to recognize. resource and effectively used what you call our arsenal of nonmilitary instruments of power. Can you explain this fundamental failure and the significance of the title that you chose for your book?
