Today, we're continuing our on-going seminar on foreign policy, a topic we'll likely be returning to repeatedly as the U.S. presidential campaign moves forward...

President Bush's foreign policy has obviously run into some, er, problems, what with seemingly stalemated ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran refusing to abandon its nuclear program, a global credit crunch, and rising food and energy prices. Not to mention a declining U.S. image worldwide.

Where do we go from here? This morning, the McClatchy Washington bureau heard from one man who believes he has some answers to that question: Joseph Nye, Harvard University professor, former assistant secretary of defense, and author of a new book, The Powers to Lead.

Nye is a leading proponent of using 'smart power.'  What's that? It's a combination of hard power (basically the threat or use of military force) and soft power (other tools to get what we want, including public diplomacy, negotiations and alliances, U.S. economic power, American values, etc.)

Nye acknowledges he adopted the term 'smart power' because it is more politically saleable than 'soft power,' which, if used by a political  candidate, could leave him or her open to charges of being 'soft' on national security. But that's precisely the problem Nye argues:

"We tend to think about power as hard power. I bomb you, so I'm powerful ...  The discourse in this country is truncated."

Nye--and here we must point out he served in the Clinton administration--says President Bush's post-9/11 policies that emphasized unilateralism and military force have hurt U.S. interests. (He and former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, whose served in Republican administrations,  co-chaired a commission on restoring U.S. leadership through smart power. They testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning).

Nye said the Bush administration has slowly come around in its second term to realizing that the United States must use all the tools it has to advance its interests, not just military ones. He cited a November speech by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who called for an increase in the State Department budget. (Yes, you read that right, the Pentagon chief called for more State Department spending).  There should be, Gates said, "a dramatic increase in spending on the civilian instruments of national security – diplomacy, strategic communications, foreign assistance, civic action, and economic reconstruction and development."

Leadership, Nye says, is about knowing when to use which kind of power. Going forward, he recommended that the next president-elect announce even before taking office that he or she will close the Guantanamo Bay prison and take initiatives on issues of global concern such as climate change.

Finally, Nye says Barack Obama's candidacy for president has captivated foreign publics, and has helped America's image "even if he doesn't win."