When I was asked to write a book about the best practices used in our successful counterinsurgency program during the Vietnam War and apply them to our more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I more and more came to the conclusion that the way we think about using power in foreign affairs doesn't help us win limited wars.  We have grown used to thinking only about using "hard" power and "soft" power, but such bifurcation is too simplistic and diverts us away from choosing successful strategies.  I suggest that a more sophisticated understanding of power looks to alliances and collaboration to take advantage of forms of power - military, police, economic, political, emotional, diplomatic - in the hands of others we can win over to working with us.