Type into Google the phrase "elements of national power" (whether or not preceded by the qualifier "all") and you will get a collection of references from mainly military commentators. The Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) translates "all elements of national power" into bureaucratese - "interagency" - and provides a useful reading list of articles and books explaining why the United States Government must better integrate all the tools at its disposal.
This process of reminding ourselves that power does not only come out of the barrel of a gun has had one of its most persuasive advocates in Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who often outdid his former cabinet colleague Condoleezza Rice in trying to push resources to American diplomacy. The military - which loves acronyms, and loves acronyms that you can pronounce even better - has a trusty standby to define the elements of national power: DIME -- Diplomatic, Informational, Military, and Economic. It's probably too "cute" a summary, and people keep trying to throw things in (from Law Enforcement to Sociology, but it messes up the acronym).
OK, enough background. Here's my point: on Tuesday, in his "budget vision" speech before a joint session of Congress, President Barack Obama promised to "use all elements of our national power" in a very interesting juncture of his speech, right between activating the Middle East peace process and shoring up the faltering world financial system. I believe the President gets it. National power does not (only) come out of the barrel of a gun.
If a parent has to spank his or her child, they've probably lost the battle. What do they do the next time, spank harder? If the US has to resort to shooting, doesn't that undermine other courses of action - the D, I, and E of "DIME?" What's the use of having that nice shiny military machine if all the spare parts are held up because you've overshot your credit limit? And the issuer is the Bank of China?
By shoring up the fundaments of an infrastructure - both physical and societal - in distress, "Doctor" Obama shows that he "gets" the fundamental "comorbidities" of "Patient" America. Weakness in the health care system, in the educational system, and deadly dependence on climate-warming foreign energy sources - any one of them can make a body sick, and combined they can be fatal. The budget is what the doctor ordered.