The New York Times ran an editorial today by Nicholas D. Kristof that caught my eye: It Takes a School, Not Missiles. The article profiles Greg Mortenson, the author who wrote Three Cups of Tea and is now famous for building 74 schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The article offers a brief and insightful look at the ways the United States should be exercising "soft" power in its campaign against terrorism.
Kristof makes one striking comparison that deserves mention here: the cost of one Tomahawk cruise missile ($500,000+) would pay for the construction of 20 schools by aid agencies. As policymakers consider how to save Afghanistan and Pakistan from unraveling, this kind of calculus is worth paying attention to. According to Kristof, the Pentagon--"which has a much better appreciation for the limits of military power than the Bush administration as a whole"--is taking these ideas extremely seriously.
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