Max Cleland: “Third, the President and the Congress need to urgently address the mismatch between our foreign policy ends and means…”

“Third, the President and the Congress need to urgently address the mismatch between our foreign policy ends and means, and between commitments and forces by: Determining the most appropriate instrument--diplomatic, military, or other--for securing policy objectives; Reviewing carefully current American commitments--especially those involving troop deployments--including the clarity of objectives, and the presence of an exit strategy; and Increasing the relatively small amount of resources devoted to the key instruments for securing our national interests--all of which can be supported by the American public, as detailed in ``The Foreign Policy Gap: How Policymakers Misread the Public'' from the University of Maryland's Center for International and Security Studies. These include: Armed Forces--which need to be reformed to meet the requirements of the 21st Century; Diplomatic Forces; Foreign Assistance; United Nations Peacekeeping Operations--which also need to be reformed to become much more effective; Key Regional Organizations--including NATO, the Organization of American States, the Organization for African Unity and the Association of South East Asian Nations.”