“We can’t solve the problems down here [in Latin America] with tanks and ships and high-priced aircraft,” Southern Command boss Admiral James Stavridis said last year.
So how does Southern Command and the new 4th Fleet deal with Latin America’s rising tide of drug smuggling, oil politics and lingering anti-Americanism?
With “soft power,” according to Stavridis. That means medical missions, disaster relief and other humanitarian assistance. And it’s the subject of my latest piece for The Washington Times.
(Photo: Paul McLeary)
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[...] In late March, I’ll be heading to Nigeria to embark aboard the USS Nashville amphibious ship during her “soft-power” deployment on the West African coast. Nashville’s cruise is part of the Navy’s Africa Partnership Station, which in turn is one of three ongoing “Global Fleet Stations,” the other two targeting Latin America (pictured) and Asia. The Global Fleet Stations are frameworks for sending mixed teams of military trainers and humanitarians to developing countries to help build alliances and improve security. Think of it as ground-level diplomacy with a military edge, or war-prevention way, way in advance of any conflict. Nashville sits at a nexus of some of the most important trends in U.S. naval power: littoral operations, soft power and a renewed focus on developing countries. This is important stuff, folks. [...]