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QuickRead -
'We read things so you don't have to'
'Diplomacy requires constant adjustment to changing circumstance; it must leave a
margin for the unexpected; the unpredictable is what always happens in foreign affairs.
Nuance, flexibility, and sometimes ambiguity are the tools of diplomacy. ' Henry Kissinger -
"We need a strategy before we send troops," says one retired senior officer. A comprehensive plan, he adds, would include: "a reasonable and frank assessment of the enemy and friendly forces, an identifiable and reasonable objective/end state, appropriate tasks for the various departments and agencies to achieve the objective, a unified command plan for coordinating the otherwise disparate efforts of the agencies, milestones for achieving tasks, various branches to the plan to accommodate the unexpected, and metrics for judging success, followed by an exit plan.
"Power is the capacity to direct the decisions and actions of others. Power derives from strength and will.
Strength comes from the transformation of resources into capabilities. Will infuses objectives with resolve.
Strategy marshals capabilities and brings them to bear with precision. Statecraft seeks through strategy to magnify
the mass, relevance, impact, and irresistibility of power. It guides the ways the state deploys and applies its
power abroad. These ways embrace the arts of war, espionage, and diplomacy. The practitioners of these three
arts are the paladins of statecraft." Charles W. Freeman, Jr.
- leadership, organizational capacity, cohesion, stamina, moral strength, independence, education, human resources, dynamism, morale, work ethic, growth, equality, resilience, maturity, durability, diversity, complexity, employment, public health, infrastructure, army’s strength, intelligence, order, justice, GDP per capita, technology, ideas, innovation, regeneration, openness, liberty, institution-building, productivity, self-confidence, hope, realism, stability, patriotism, participation, anti-poverty, participation in the work-force, democracy, law and order, efficiency, quality of regulation, coordination
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Numbers
Analysts at Goldman Sachs predict that by 2040, China, India, Russia, Brazil and Mexico will have a larger combined economic output than today's G7.
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