We are upto our neck diplomacy. I have lived and travelled all over the world, including the Middle East. Here is something Bush should understand. The rest of the world understands power. They toed the Soviet line because of Soviet military and covert capabilities. This is the same reason why the world now sucks up to Islamic fundamentalism. No matter how diplomatic and how nice we become, that will not change how the rest of the world looks at us. This is sort of like the NYT syndrome. No matter how nice conservatives are, the TImes will never say one good thing about you. Bush needs to understand that the way we get respect in this world is pushing right back. Except, we are Americans and we should only use power to do things that are just and serve our best interest.
I'll give you that quote as mistaken, but I'm not sure that it's being backed by any change in policy.
I think we're carrying a pretty big stick in the world right now, and with the switch from Colin Powell to Condi Rice, we're not going to get any softer, that's for sure.