Speaking softly serves America surprisingly well

Muting Washington's evergreen hawks should be a rule of thumb for how the United States does business.

- Edward Luce

America's response to a suspected Russian missile strike on Poland in November is an example of how to operate. Ignoring the kamikaze clamour to invoke Nato's collective self-defence clause, US President Joe Biden and his allies quietly parsed the facts and found that the missile came from Ukraine. There was no leaping to conclusions or brinkmanship. Muting Washington's evergreen hawks should be a rule of thumb for how America does business.

It goes against the grain, of course. America's most bellicose president, Teddy Roosevelt, suggested that the US should speak softly and carry a big stick. What stuck out was the first half of Roosevelt's dictum, since it was so at odds with the character of a nation that even then aimed to remake the world in its image. Wanting others to be like you is an aggressive impulse, even when it is well-meant.

A US that leads as much by omission as commission will thus be hard to sustain. The guidebook for how America should act is written in recent failures and less celebrated successes.