Big Idea: The Autonomy Rule

During her Senate confirmation hearing in January, Hillary Clinton pledged to deploy "smart power" -- the full range of economic, military, political, legal and even cultural tools at her disposal -- as secretary of state. But when she downplayed expectations about U.S. pressure on China regarding human rights before her trip to Beijing last month, America's new top diplomat may have had a different guiding principle in mind:

The Autonomy Rule.

Writing in the latest issue of the journal "Democracy," Charles Kupchan and Adam Mount of Georgetown University offer the rule as a new standard for how Washington must deal with rising foreign powers: Stop preaching. Accept that alternative political systems will proliferate and learn to work with them as partners. Or, as the authors put it, recognize that "liberal democracy must compete respectfully in the marketplace of ideas with other types of regimes."

For a foreign government to pass muster, it only need "provide responsible governance" and promote the welfare of its citizens "in a manner consistent with their preferences." Egregious offenses such as genocide, sponsoring terrorism or trafficking in weapons of mass destruction are no-nos, so nations such as Sudan, North Korea, Burma and Zimbabwe are out.

China and Russia, however, "qualify as states in good standing" under the Autonomy Rule, Kupchan wrote in an e-mail. Pretty practical, since Washington needs their help on everything from fighting the global recession to arms control. As Madam Secretary might say, that's just "stating the obvious," isn't it?