Words and Deeds Revisited
David Rohde has a piece in yesterday’s New York Times on Pakistan that is worth reading. The setup is an Islamic extremist insisting that the United States is helping Pakistani earthquake victims only because it wants to establish military bases in northern Pakistan that it can use to contain China. Pretty standard conspiracy fare. The interesting part is what comes next.
Rohde found that other Pakistanis he talked to weren’t buying the argument. What he heard instead was praise for American generosity.
"People don't believe such things; people only believe in what they are seeing," said Manzur Hussain, a 36-year-old hospital worker whose brother, sister and two sons died in the earthquake. "People who give them aid, they respect them."
Rohde also quotes a Pakistani doctor reacting to the presence of U.S. search and rescue teams:
“It has changed our opinion about the United States," he said, adding that hard-line clerics' descriptions of debauched foreigners have proved untrue. "They have been accusing all these people of spreading immorality, but these are the people who came to save our lives."
Ok. This is only one story from one reporter. But something similar happened in Indonesia after the United States rushed to help victims of last December’s tsunami. People saw Americans willing to help them with their problems. Their attitudes toward the United States softened as a result.
All this is worth keeping in mind as policy makers and pundits tout the benefits of public diplomacy and “listening tours.” Good words are fine. Good deeds are even better.
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Comments (4)
They sure are. I think it's also worth noting though that the path to redeeming our international standing is going to demand a good amount of generosity and willingness to help on our part. But there will be direct benefit for it. Whoever our next president is, from either party, had better recognize that we have work to do. America can win hearts and minds, just as Bush said he wanted, but it won't happen at gunpoint or by our defying global will without even a hint of remorse, as we did in Iraq.
October 27, 2005 6:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
without even a hint of remorse...
Amen, especially on that phrase. If only we just could have another president right now, Dem., Rep. or Ind., who could say three words "we are sorry," what wonders could be worked.
October 27, 2005 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I remember a survey a while back, where the average American thought 25% of the U.S. budget went to foreign aid. the actual figure was under 1/3 of 1%, as I recall. I wonder if we could obviate some of our military spending by increasing foreign aid. We've bumped it up by quite a bit since 9/11 as an unmentioned part of the "war on terror," but on a per GDP basis, we still lag behind most developed countries. Jimmy Carter a couple of years ago called America a "stingy" country, and he was right. Maybe being generous has some extra payoffs we should look in to.
October 27, 2005 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
cross-link to 'My Blog' entry on it:
Plea for Pakistan: Give them shelter and help yourself in the bargain
October 28, 2005 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink