Showing 1 - 3 of 3
US hard power must get harder
Oped, Todd G. Buchholz & Michael Mindlin, Published on 05/06/2025
» In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford gets his biggest laugh when a desert assassin twirls a scimitar with menacing bravado. Following this brief performance, Ford's character cracks a wry smile, takes out his pistol, and shoots the man dead. In a potential contest with China, the United States looks more like the medieval assassin, deploying young sailors and soldiers equipped with perilously outdated, vulnerable technology.
Time to rethink Thailand's soft power
Oped, Peerasit Kamnuansilpa, Published on 09/04/2025
» For years, Thailand has marketed itself to the world through golden temples, glittering beaches, street food, and warm hospitality. The "Land of Smiles" has become a global brand, but soft power is not a marketing campaign -- it's a long game of developing and nourishing values, trust, and strategic diplomacy. In that game, Thailand is falling behind.
Khashoggi and MBS's blunderers
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/03/2021
» If Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, were a burglar, he wouldn't be George Clooney in Ocean's Eleven. He'd be a cartoon burglar in a carnival mask and a top with black-and-white horizontal stripes, carrying a sack labelled "SWAG".