Barack Obama announces his foreign policy team today: Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Jim Jones as National Security Adviser and Robert Gates staying on as Secretary of Defense. This blogger has joined the chorus of those who feel that Obama’s choices are hawkish to the point where they don’t represent his campaign positions, particularly on the Iraq War.

The New York Times David E. Sanger, though, reports out an interesting point– that the trio is well-suited to build on Gates’s vision of expanded military soft power. Gates has sought to spend more money on humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, Iraq and across the world. It’s not clear if this money would come out of the Pentagon’s budget or be charged to the State Dept.

What soft power exactly is almost 20 years after the Cold War ended remains vague. George W. Bush had promised a "civilian reserve corps" for the State Dept, but (shockingly!) never followed through. Soft power to me always sounds like neo-colonialism but Gates specializes in the issue and he might yet make it something innovative and constructive.-MB

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