Shashi Tharoor Biography

"...[A]cting in the name of international law is always preferable to acting in the name of national security. Everyone has a stake in the former, and so couching U.S. action in terms of international law universalizes American interests and comforts potential allies. When American actions seem driven by U.S. national security imperatives alone, partners can prove hard to find -- as became clear when, in marked contrast to the first Gulf War, only a small 'coalition of the willing' joined Washington the second time around in Iraq. Working within the UN allows the United States to maximize what Joseph Nye calls its 'soft power' -- the ability to attract and persuade others to adopt the American agenda -- rather than relying purely on the dissuasive or coercive 'hard power' of military force.

Global challenges also require global solutions, and few indeed are the situations in which the United States or any other country can act completely alone. This truism is currently being confirmed in Iraq, where Washington is discovering that it is better at winning wars than constructing peace. The limitations of military strength in nation building are readily apparent; as Talleyrand pointed out, the one thing you cannot do with a bayonet is to sit on it."