Comment: I think you slept through the '90s. "Soft power" sounds great at the diplomatic soiree but it has rather limited utility in the real world.  And it certainly won't get us much respect with the big players when they're actually deciding things that matter. 
There's a reason we have forces in eastern Europe and northern Iraq right now and none burning taxpayers resources on a pathetic UN run debacle in Africa, as some of the less strategically astute progressives would like.