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Archive for May, 2011

Hillary Clinton Will Go To Pakistan After All

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, Secretary of State Travel, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , on May 16, 2011| 17 Comments »

Well, I know I am missing Richard Holbrooke right about now.  Despite an earlier cancellation of an upcoming trip to Pakistan, that trip is back on.  Mark Toner’s remarks at today’s press briefing update the plans.

This is a dangerous trip at this point, so I am putting the candles above the fold for those who wish to light one.  Gratefulness Candles for HRC.

Mark C. Toner
Acting Deputy Department Spokesman
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
May 16, 2011


QUESTION: Mark, earlier today in Islamabad, Senator Kerry said that Secretary Clinton would soon be making an announcement that she would travel to Pakistan. How soon?

MR. TONER: Well —

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR. TONER: Sure. I don’t have any specific details to announce. Obviously, we do that normally through a travel announcement. But the Secretary does plan to visit Pakistan in order to have an in-depth strategic discussion about our cooperation and to convey the U.S. Government’s views on the way forward of Pakistan. She’ll go when she can have those discussions in the right context and with the right preparation, and we’re engaged right now with the Pakistanis to lay that groundwork.

Just over the past 24 hours she spoke with senior Pakistani leaders, from President Zardari to Prime Minister Gillani, as well as General Kayani. And also, I understand that Special Representative Marc Grossman will be heading to Pakistan and he’ll also continue those discussions and, as I said, he’ll continue to lay the groundwork for the Secretary’s eventual visit.

QUESTION: So when is Grossman going?

MR. TONER: Grossman is supposed to leave this week. I don’t have a precise day. I’ll get those dates for you once we have them.

QUESTION: So there were three phone calls by the Secretary – Zardari, Gillan, and Kayani, right?

MR. TONER: Correct.

QUESTION: Mark, I believe you said the Secretary was scheduled to go at the end of May for the already-scheduled Strategic Dialogue Round Three in Islamabad. You’re saying eventually. Does that mean that that schedule is no longer firm?

MR. TONER: I don’t know specifically what – how that impacts those scheduled meetings. When I have more details, I’ll give them to you.

QUESTION: She’s not confirmed to go in late May, as was previously scheduled?

MR. TONER: My understanding is that we’re laying the groundwork for her visit and we’ll announce those dates when we have them, when we’re confident the groundwork has been laid.

QUESTION: Will she meet with Pakistani opposition figures?

MR. TONER: I’m not sure. Usually, she meets with a broad range of civil society and opposition figures. I don’t know what – I mean, again, her schedule is in – would be in flux. I don’t want to get into too much detail. We haven’t announced anything beyond her intent to go there.

QUESTION: So what did she tell Gillani, Kayani and Zardari?

MR. TONER: Well, you know we don’t get into the substance of those kinds of discussions, but I think we talked about the current state of play, where we’re at, but also she was – she talked about a way forward in the relationship. Obviously, as we’ve said here and from the White House and as well as Capitol Hill, that Usama bin Ladin’s whereabouts raised some concerns and questions, and we’re trying to move on to address those questions as well as move forward with the relationship, because we feel it’s in both our countries’ interests.

QUESTION: So —

MR. TONER: Yeah. Go ahead, Matt, and then —

QUESTION: Well, I just – she didn’t tell them that she would be coming?

MR. TONER: She said she – yes, I’m sorry. She did say that she was – again, I mean, just to paraphrase what I just said initially, that she plans to visit to have an in-depth strategic discussion. But again, we want to make sure that those discussions can take place in the right context.

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** Updated with Video** Secretary Clinton’s Remarks at the U.S.-Mexico Foundation’s Mexican American Leadership Initiative Reception

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on May 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Vodpod videos no longer available.

u.s.-mexican leadership, posted with vodpod


Remarks at the U.S.-Mexico Foundation’s Mexican American Leadership Initiative Reception

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 16, 2011

Welcome. This is a very exciting day for me, and I hope for all of you, because we are welcoming you here to the State Department on the eve of the first-ever Mexican American Leadership Initiative Conference. And I am so proud to see so many of you from across our country who have decided that this is such an important endeavor. And I want to congratulate the founders of the Mexican American Leadership Initiative and the U.S. Mexico Foundation for creating such an exciting group. We’re delighted to have the ambassador here. Arturo, welcome. Thank you for coming. (Applause.)

Now, I have said many times before that this is a labor of love for me. I remember very well the first time I was in South Texas in 1972 to register Latino voters and I made a lifelong friend there, Raul Yzaguirre – (applause) – who is now our ambassador to the Dominican Republic. And for many of you who have been part of the struggle for economic opportunity and inclusion, this is an exciting time to recognize all of the progress that has been made and to look for ways through this initiative that we can work together with our neighbors and our friends and, in many instances, family members in Mexico.

This is an independent organization, but I am proud to have been part of the initial conversation about MALI’s creation. I remember last spring talking with Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa from Mexico about the special role that ethnic communities play in the countries of their parents and grandparents here in the United States. Obviously, we know many examples of that around our country. And with one billion in trade and one million people crossing the border every single day – not to mention all of the friends and relatives who stay in constant touch – this was a very powerful force that had yet to be tapped. And so I started thinking and talking to some of you here about what we could do. Is there a model that we could perhaps look to?

And it turns out that a lot of you were thinking the same way. I know that a lot of the people I’ve relied on over so many years as friends and counselor – Jose Villarreal, Maria Echaveste, David Ayon and others – were thinking themselves as well: What could we do? Is there a role for Mexican Americans to be working with counterparts in Mexico on a range of important issues?

And so I know that Jose, Maria, David, and others spent a year talking to so many of you in Los Angeles, in Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio, Washington, New York, and hearing time and time again how everyone wanted to figure out a way to do more to help Mexico meet its challenges.

So what started out as an informal discussion evolved into an informal task force and soon gained the support of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation. And I’m very grateful for that, because I think that if you look at the powerful combination of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation and now this initiative, you can see real strength. This has been something that we’ve discussed in the State Department. Of course, Arturo Valenzuela, our assistant secretary for the Western Hemisphere, and so many of us saw this as a great opportunity.

Now, as you define your agenda, let me just mention a couple of the issues. One, we are working to try to support Mexico in its courageous struggle against the drug traffickers. And as Jose said, we know responsibility lies on both sides of the border. It’s a shared responsibility for a shared challenge. And we need to keep our border open so that people can move back and forth for all kinds of reasons, but we also have to help the Mexican Government and the Mexican people find security and justice.

So we’re working together, and other countries in the hemisphere are working with us to share about best practices for prosecutors, for police officers, for judges, how to track criminals, drugs, arms, and money. So this is an important aspect of our relationship government-to-government, but we’re not just about that because what we really believe is in building strong communities, communities that are able to provide opportunities for their people, particularly their young people. And we have got to deepen our relationship with civil society on both sides of the border. There’s a lot of good cross-border work already happening, but we think MALI’s focus on strengthening civil society and institutions and creating opportunities for young people are exactly the right priorities, and we’re very supportive of the ideas that you will be coming up with.

Now, more broadly, the State Department wants to help diaspora communities connect with countries around the world. We want to be a convener, a catalyst, and a collaborator – and we hope that MALI can be an example for other countries as well. And we’re going to be featuring MALI at the Global Diaspora Forum that starts here at the State Department this week.

When I was thinking about this, I really had so much of a sense that the time was right, that there was an opportunity here that might not have been here 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago but is here now. And therefore, we have to seize this moment. This is the moment for us to step up and figure out ways we can really better connect and can provide all kinds of support for our friends in Mexico.

And so I want to thank very much the U.S.-Mexico Foundation. I want to thank Jim Polsfut and Martha Smith de Rangel, and everyone who is part of it. I want to thank all the sponsors who are supporting this event and working with the organizations. And I want to thank David Ayón, Maria Echeveste, Raul Hinojosa, Raul Rodriguez, and Victor Arias for everything you’ve done to get this off the ground.

It is an exciting venture, and I would imagine that there are more ideas than there are people in this room. And this room is named for Benjamin Franklin, who is right up there over the fireplace. And Benjamin Franklin was an ideas man. He came up with lots of good ideas, one of which was understanding electricity, which I thought was pretty amazing. (Laughter.) So this is an electric moment, and in honor of all of you, I want to commit myself personally and our Department to assist you and work with you closely in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.

And with that, it is now my pleasure to give the floor to the director of our Global Partnerships Initiative, who has put together the Diaspora Forum, Kris Balderston. And at this Diaspora Forum, you will have an opportunity to interact with people who have been involved for years with their country of origin or their parents’ ancestral home. And there’s a lot to show for it – people who are deeply involved in education and health care or housing. We know about the, literally, billions of dollars of remittances that flow across our border. How better can we invest in the people of Mexico so they can make a better life for themselves if they so choose, right where they come from?

So we’re going to be looking at a lot of good ideas, and we invite each and every one of you to come with your ideas, because that’s what this is about. It’s about generating good ideas that will make a difference to broaden and deepen our relationship, not only – in fact, I would say least of all at the government-to-government relationship. That’s important, but what’s really significant are building those ties and connections between the people of our two countries.

Thank you all so much for being part of this exciting new venture. (Applause.)

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Video: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton On the Release of President Obama Administration’s International Strategy for Cyberspace

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 16, 2011| 9 Comments »

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton On the Release of President Obama Administration’s International Strategy for Cyberspace

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 16, 2011

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, thank you very much. As you can guess from John’s introductory remarks, we are very pleased this day has come. We are delighted at the extraordinary work that has been done across our government with the unveiling of this International Strategy for Cyberspace, and we look forward to partnering with our private sector, with other nations, and with others who share the goal that is set forth in this new document that really tries to achieve the goal that is set forth in the very beginning, and that is, the United States will work internationally to promote an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable information and communications infrastructure that supports international trade and commerce, strengthens international security, and fosters free expression and innovation. To achieve that goal, we will build and sustain an environment in which norms of responsible behavior guides states actions, sustains partnerships, and support the rule of law in cyberspace.

This is a policy that very much sums up what the United States seeks. Many of you representing the governments of other countries, as well as the private sector or foundations or civil society groups, share our commitment to ensuring that the internet remains open, secure, and free, not only for the 2 billion people who are now online, but for the billions more who will be online in the years ahead.

What they are able to do in cyberspace, whether they can exchange ideas and opinions openly, freely explore the subjects of their choosing, stay safe from cyber criminals, and engage in professional and personal activities online, confident that doing so will remain private and secure, depends a great deal on the policies that we will adopt together.

Now, many of you know that the State Department has staked out a position as a leader on internet freedom, and I see Alec Ross, who has headed our efforts on that. This is one critical aspect of cyber policy. But we know very well that the numbers of issues seem to be infinitely expanding, and we need to develop, deploy, and coordinate policies that address the full array of cyber issues. That is what the U.S. International Strategy for Cyberspace is intended to help us do. Because it does, as John said, bring together, for the first time under one framework, all the different policies that the United States is pursuing into an integrated whole-of-government approach.

It also articulates, for the first time, all of the principles that guide our work – those that infuse our foreign policy, such as upholding the fundamental freedoms that we consider internet freedom to be part of, and all the other aspects of this policy that will be addressed by my colleagues. We try to really tackle all of the difficult issues and challenges that cyberspace presents. And we know very well that everything we’ve written today we will have to keep updating as new challenges and opportunities arise. Because while the internet offers new ways for people to exercise their political rights, it also, as we have seen very clearly in the last months, gives governments new tools for clamping down on dissent. And while the internet creates new economic opportunities for people at every point on the development spectrum, it also gives criminals new openings to steal personal data and intellectual property. And while the internet makes it possible for governments and people to collaborate more closely across borders, it presents new terrain for conflict, when states or other actors deliberately disrupt networks or when terrorists use the internet to organize attacks.

So, we seek to maximize the internet’s tremendous capacity to accelerate human progress, while sharpening our response and our tools to deal with the threats and the problems and the disputes that are part of cyberspace.

Now, as we look at this strategy, I want to be clear about what it is not. It is not a series of prescriptions, and that’s an important distinction. Because as we work to achieve a cyberspace that is open, interoperable, secure, and reliable, there is no one-size-fits-all, straightforward route to that goal. We have to build a global consensus around a shared vision for the future of cyberspace to make sure it serves, rather than impedes, the social, economic, and political aspirations of people worldwide. And that can only happen through patient, persistent, and creative diplomacy.

So the strategy identifies seven key policy priorities that will be the focus of our diplomatic outreach going forward. They are: first, economic engagement to encourage innovation and trade while safeguarding intellectual property; second, cyber security to protect our networks and strengthen international security; third, law enforcement to improve our ability to respond to cyber-crime, including by strengthening international laws and regulations where appropriate; next, military cooperation to help our alliances do more together to confront cyber threats while ensuring that our military’s networks remain protected; next, multi-stakeholder internet governance so that networks work the way they should; and then, development to support the rise of new partners by helping countries develop their digital infrastructure and build their capacity to withstand cyber threats; and finally, but for us very importantly, internet freedom. We want to do more together to protect privacy and secure fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly, and association, online as we do offline. Together, these seven priorities comprise a new foreign policy imperative for which the State Department has been exercising and will continue to have a leading role.

Now, what we are trying to do in furtherance of those imperatives is to integrate cyber issues into our programs across the board, from our cooperation with other nations to stop criminal cartels, to our economic diplomacy, to our support for girls and women worldwide. We’ve created our 21st century statecraft agenda to harness new technologies to achieve our diplomatic and development goals, and we want to continue to press forward on this with the partners that we see here before us. We are sponsoring capacity-building efforts around the world to help more countries play a bigger role in the internet. And as our focus on internet freedom clearly describes, we are supporting the efforts of human rights and democracy activists to ensure that they have access to an open internet. We are funding cutting-edge programs to give them the tools and the know-how to communicate effectively and safely to get their message out, even as governments try to silence them or cut them off from the internet.

To coordinate these and other efforts, we’ve created the new Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues. Chris Painter, a longtime expert in the field, is now on the job at the State Department, having joined us from the White House and the NSC, where he helped lead the development of the strategy we’re releasing today. Chris’s office is taking the lead at the State Department as we work with other nations and partners to promote these broad goals.

Now, we’re entering a next phase in our engagement with cyberspace based on this strategy, and we’re seeing how countries are adjusting their own policies and approaches. And we’re understanding that we can’t have disparate, stoved-piped discussions, because as many countries have begun to focus more on internet policies and as more citizens have gone online, too often the international discussions we have about cyber issues deals with each of these challenges separately. Our diplomats meet with their counterparts on cyber crime, and then on another occasion on internet freedom, and then finally, on a third, on network security.

We are not dealing with these issues internationally in a coordinated, integrated fashion, and so now we will based on our strategy. And our hope is that you will actually read this strategy, that you will engage with us on it, that you will look at, understand our principles and our approach, and then join us in helping to put them into practice. We are seeing cyberspace transform before our very eyes. Now we have to shape that transformation, and we are excited that this strategy is going to give us the roadmap that we will follow going forward. And I look forward to working with you in the months ahead to translate this strategy into action. And it’s now my pleasure to introduce my colleague, Attorney General Eric Holder. (Applause.)

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**Updated with Video** Secretary Clinton’s Remarks With Jordanian King Abdullah

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , on May 16, 2011| 3 Comments »

Remarks With Jordanian King Abdullah Before Their Meeting

Vodpod videos no longer available.remarks with King Abdullah, posted with vodpod

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Ben Franklin Room
Washington, DC
May 16, 2011

SECRETARY CLINTON: It is such a personal pleasure, but also a very important occasion for me to welcome His Majesty here to the State Department. He is a strong and steady voice in the incredible changes that are going on around the world. He’s a great friend and partner to the United States. We count Jordan as a nation that we share many common interests with and we have pursued many common objectives. It’s also for me a great delight because of my personal regard for His Majesty and his leadership.

So, once again, we welcome you.

KING ABDULLAH: Thank you, Madam Secretary. I’m delighted to be back here in Washington. Again, we value the relationship with this country and with you specifically. We’re here in Washington to not only talk about our bilateral relations and the challenges that we face in the Middle East, but also this Arab Spring. That is a challenge for all of us to hopefully get it right and the role of the United States is going to be crucial how the Middle East moves in what direction, but also our discussions with you, Madam, and with the President, as we’re looking at ways of bringing Israelis and Palestinians to the peace table, because with all that’s going on in the Middle East, the core issue of the Middle East still is that, an Israeli – a Palestinian-Israeli (inaudible).

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.

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SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for May 16, 2011

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , on May 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Public Schedule for May 16, 2011

Public Schedule

Washington, DC
May 16, 2011

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:15 a.m.  Secretary Clinton meets with the Assistant Secretaries, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:15 a.m.  Secretary Clinton meets with the participants in the May 2011 Ambassadorial Seminar, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:15 p.m.  Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah, at the Department of State.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING BILATERAL MEETING)

2:45 p.m.  Secretary Clinton delivers keynote remarks at the release of the Obama administration’s International Strategy for Cyberspace hosted by John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE) 

5:10 p.m.  Secretary Clinton delivers remarks at the U.S.-Mexico Foundation’s Mexican American Leadership Initiative reception, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

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Secretary Clinton’s Statement on Constitution Day in Norway

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , on May 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Constitution Day in Norway

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 15, 2011

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I send my best wishes to the people of Norway on your Constitution Day this May 17. For nearly two hundred years, the Norwegian people have contributed in ways large and small to America’s growth and prosperity. Today, we celebrate Norway’s strength, the contributions by Americans of Norwegian descent, and the rich legacy woven throughout our common history.

Norway’s commitment to the tenets of democracy, progress and human rights inspires countless countries around the world. These ideals guide us as we work together to support those who stand up against tyranny and oppression. Norwegian contributions to the international forces in Afghanistan and to the NATO mission in Libya are a key part of the global partnership in these regions. We are grateful to be working side by side with Norwegians on these and many other issues of common concern.

On this Syttende Mai, please accept our warmest wishes and know that the United States is committed to this relationship and to the future of both our people.

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This Week: On Hillary Clinton’s Agenda

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, USAID, tagged , , , , , , , on May 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Secretary Clinton to Deliver Keynote Remarks on the Release of the International Strategy for Cyberspace on May 16 at the White House

Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
May 13, 2011

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver keynote remarks at the release of the Obama Administration’s International Strategy for Cyberspace hosted by John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, on Monday, May 16 at approximately 2:45 p.m. at the White House.

The strategy lays out a comprehensive, principled vision for the future of cyberspace. The Secretary’s remarks will address the role of cyberspace in advancing the full range of U.S. interests and the importance of international cooperation in advancing cyberspace as a foreign policy priority.

Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will also deliver remarks at the release. Senior foreign diplomats, as well as representatives from industry, civil society and academia will also participate in the event.
Watch Secretary Clinton’s remarks live on www.whitehouse.gov.

Secretary Clinton to Deliver Remarks at the U.S.-Mexico Foundation’s Mexican American Leadership Initiative Reception on May 16

Office of the Spokesman

Washington, DC
May 13, 2011

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver remarks at the U.S.-Mexico Foundation’s Mexican American Leadership Initiative reception at approximately 5:15 p.m. on May 16, 2011, at the U.S. Department of State.

The Mexican American Leadership Initiative of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation was developed to foster constructive responses and partnerships between the societies of the United States and Mexico. The reception will kick off the first annual conference, “The Challenge of Shared Responsibility,” which will take place on May 17 at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC. The full conference agenda can be found here.

Secretary Clinton Launches “Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum” Media Coverage Opportunities on May 17 and 18

Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
May 13, 2011

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver remarks on May 17 at the opening of the Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum, at the Department of State.

This three-day event, organized by the Secretary of State’s Global Partnership Initiative in collaboration with USAID and the Migration Policy Institute, brings together over 300 leaders from diaspora communities across the country to discuss and collaborate on projects related to development and diplomacy with their countries of origin.

Watch the Secretary’s remarks live at approximately 10:30 a.m. on www.state.gov.
At the forum, the Secretary of State will announce the launch of an innovative public-private partnership platform designed to engage Diaspora communities, the private sector, and public institutions in a collaborative process.

The Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum is aimed to recognize, celebrate, and inspire the work of American diaspora communities with roots all over the globe to contribute to the development of and diplomatic relations with their countries of origin. Discussion themes at the Forum will include: investment and trade, philanthropy, volunteerism, social innovation, entrepreneurship, disaster relief, education, ethnic media, health and medicine, sports, science and technology, youth, arts and culture.

Full information about the program and agenda can be found at: www.diasporaalliance.org.

On May 17, Special Representative Kris M. Balderston will open the forum. In addition to Secretary Clinton’s remarks, Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero and USAID Administrator Raj Shah will deliver remarks. The Hon. Leocadia Zak, Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and Gustavo Arnavat, US Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank, will deliver closing remarks at 5 p.m.

On May 18, the Hon. Fred Hochberg, Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and Mimi Alemayehu, Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, will deliver opening remarks. Jon Carson, Director of Public Engagement at the White House will moderate a plenary panel session on “Building Bridges.” At 1:30pm, the Honorable Daniel Yohannes, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, will deliver a Keynote Address. At 4 p.m, Quintan Wiktorowicz, Senior Director for Global Engagement at the White House and Assistant Secretary for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs Jose Fernandez will offer closing remarks.

On May 19, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale; Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration Eric Schwartz; and USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg will deliver opening remarks at the “Building Partnerships with U.S. Government” portion of the forum at the Ronald Reagan Building. Following this session, various government agencies and offices will host roundtable discussions where participants will have the chance to learn about opportunities for collaboration.

For more information on the three-day program, click here.

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Hillary Clinton: Too Sexy for the Sit Room

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Department of State, White House, tagged , , , , , , , on May 14, 2011| 18 Comments »

Last Sunday. a week after the raid on OBL’s compound, The Jerusalem Post was the first to report that a Hasidic newspaper based in Brooklyn,  Der Zeitung, had excised Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Audrey Tomason, Director for Counterterrorism for the National Security Council, from the iconic Sit Room photo, seen here,  taken a week earlier during the course of the raid.

The supreme irony was that when this original photo was first released and making the rounds, much of the commentary mentioned that the photographer seemed to have made HRC the focal point intentionally.  You do not need to know much about composition to predict that removal of the focal point makes for pitiful photography.  I suppose you do need to know something about Hasidim to know why the women were erased from the photo and thus from the historic moment.

The newspaper’s policy is not to print pictures of women because … well they can be tempting, sexually suggestive.   There are a few things wrong with this thinking.  First, and foremost it assumes a primarily male readership.  Secondly,  it alters history whenever any woman’s photo is removed from a news story.  Thirdly,  it posits that women, no matter how professionally they present themselves are sirens whose essential raison d’être is to seduce men.

Now readers of this blog have seen Mme. Secretary exercising her “smart power” in some flirty ways over her more than two years in this post,   She is very beautiful and can melt all but the hardest of hearts (Avigdor Lieberman has yet to tumble, but Hugo Chavez may be softening).  She knows how to charm men and does not hesitate to use that ability in service to her country.   Sergei Lavrov and the New START Treaty attest to her capacity to win over the previously stubborn.  The Sit Room on May 1, 2011 was not, however an occasion on which that particular talent of hers would have been likely to have been on display.

Always carefully attired, she was in a sensible tweed jacket and all of the secretarial assets were well covered.  Her eyes were on a screen of some kind, not gazing into some man’s eyes … not even gazing into the camera lens.  If something about her in that photo gave rise to sexual impulses,  there was no effort on her part to generate that.

So if merely  the presence of a woman, no matter how qualified and legitimately involved in an incident. merits her erasure from a moment in history because she is potentially just too sexy and seductive, we say turnaround is fair play and applaud FreeWilliamsburg for providing us sex-driven females with a version of the historic photo free of the tempting presence and distraction of all of that testosterone in the room.

In the week that has ensued, the paper has said it issued apologies to the White House and the State Department.  As far as we know, they have not printed a correction (i.e. the original photo).  Neither did we hear a peep from the White House which issued the original with the following provision, according to The Jerusalem Post:

“This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, e-mails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.”

So, just guessing, the tampering is OK, and long as no one draws a mustache on the POTUS. That would cross the line of propriety.

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Hillary Clinton, International Woman of History, On China, The Doha Speech, and Fools’ Errands

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 14, 2011| 24 Comments »

On Tuesday, May 10, I posted the April 7 Interview with Jeff Goldberg of The Atlantic that had just been released.  Something in that interview caught my attention.  It was a busy week for me,  and I did not have time to address it immediately, but I want to take a step back  and attend to it now.

QUESTION: Is there – a couple more things. The – I’m not a fan of coherence. We have this bias toward coherence. Everything has to be tied up neatly.

SECRETARY CLINTON: But everybody wants that.

QUESTION: Everybody wants coherence. Is there, however, some sort of coherent storyline that you can identify what’s happened since the poor vegetable seller –

SECRETARY CLINTON: Absolutely.

QUESTION: — self-immolated.

SECRETARY CLINTON: I mean, I’m now being blamed in some Arab capitals for having caused this with my speech in Doha, even though –

QUESTION: You get it coming and going.

SECRETARY CLINTON: I do, don’t I?

QUESTION: Yeah.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Even though the vegetable dealer actually –

QUESTION: That was before.

SECRETARY CLINTON: — set himself on fire.

QUESTION: But you were working on the speech, to your credit –

SECRETARY CLINTON: I was working on it and –

STAFF: Forgive me, to her credit –

SECRETARY CLINTON: To my credit.

STAFF: You’re the reporter, huh?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Yeah. Right.

QUESTION: To your credit. No, you – I mean, I know the speech was in – Jim was telling me –

SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s right.

QUESTION: — the speech was in motion.

SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s right. I mean, because what I saw happening was so clear to me that what was going on was just this movement below the surface that despite the leaders’ either refusal or blindness to see what was going on, it was moving. And we have just lost our breath over the last many years trying to get people that we worked with ahead of the curve. So I gave that speech in Doha, and it was fascinating, and I noticed it at the time. A lot of the government leaders were like, “No, didn’t want to hear it.” The business leaders, the NGOs, were on the edge of their seats. They were nodding at each other. They were poking each other in the arm. They –

QUESTION: You literally felt that.

SECRETARY CLINTON: I could see it. I could literally see it where I was sitting as I was delivering it, and then during the question-and-answer period.

So, I mean, the leaders might have chosen to be oblivious, but people in the society, not just the young people, but people of all walks of life, they knew that there was this beginning change. And it was, “Do they go with it? Are they afraid of it? Do they make it their own?” That was –

QUESTION: Stipulated that you get it coming and going on these questions, do you – and I just want to come to two final things on the Middle East peace process – but the – stipulate that and that you’re never going to get – somebody in Egypt is going to think of you as the best friend of Mubarak and somebody in the Gulf is going to think of you as sort of a wild-eyed Wolfowitz or something.

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.) I don’t know about that.

QUESTION: Yeah. No, I –

SECRETARY CLINTON: You can say I’m wild-eyed but don’t compare me to that. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: I just threw it out there, talking it out. No big deal.

No, but it’s interesting because you hear, not only here but in the White House also, people are saying, “Oh, you guys are so statist and you’re so slow on Yemen or so slow on this,” but you’re hearing – but you’re also hearing from not only Otto, but a lot of people accusing you of the sky is falling –

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I do have this – I mean, my doctrine is the Goldilocks Doctrine – not too hot, not too cold, just right.

QUESTION: I get that. But how do you – so how do you deal with the hypocrisy that is a necessity in diplomacy, meaning that you’re going to deal with a Qadhafi one way because you can and you’re going to deal with a Yemen in a different way? Or do you not see it as strategic hypocrisy or a kind of malleability or –

SECRETARY CLINTON: I don’t. I honestly believe that each place is different. There are trends, but I think following the fall of the Berlin Wall, how Germany responded and Poland responded, you couldn’t say that there was one template that fit all. I mean, you had the – you had –

I, too, saw a close relationship between that speech and the subsequent Arab Spring.  In fact I reposted the speech on January 28 to point out that Hillary Clinton was more in touch with the stirrings of democracy beneath the surface in these countries than the leaders themselves were.  Her comments above bear that out.

Two earmarks of  Hillary Clinton’s tenure at the State Department are her stalwart defense of internet freedom and her insistence upon packing outreaches to civil society into her already dizzying schedules on her travels.  It is in these townterviews, meetings,  and interviews that her (lovely) fingers fall on the pulse of the people providing her with insights that their own leaders perhaps fail to perceive.  When she then alludes to these insights in a speech,  people all over the world see and hear the speech and  read her words.

Even in countries like China, which attempts to block access, people find her words.  Today’s technology cannot be stopped.  Students know how to get around firewalls.  They are on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter.  They know we support them. They know our Secretary of State fights for them and view her as a hero (as do we,  whom she represents).

So my hero, my Mme. Secretary,  is being blamed for causing these revolutions with her Doha speech?  To be sure she could see this coming, but only because she deigned to look into the eyes of the people, to speak with them, and to listen.   What she heard were aspirations that all people have:  to be able to make a decent  living, educate children, live peacefully, have a voice.  It was not Hillary Clinton who tempted people with these possibilities.  It was their own leaders’ denial of these rights that caused the Arab Spring.

When I see an exchange like the one below, from an earlier section of the same interview,  I know that other oppressive regimes will try to blame her in the future, but as she herself points out,  putting oneself in front of the steamroller of history is a fool’s errand.

QUESTION: Which brings me to one of the contradictions, and they’re – everybody’s demanding of you and your Administration a kind of over-arching doctrine, and we’ll get to that in a second. But one of the obvious contradictions here is that while on the one hand you are pushing for democracy, democratic reform and achievement in Egypt and Tunisia, places like that, you’re also, in some ways, have gone into the monarchy business in the sense that we have a lot of allies – Jordan and Saudi Arabia, most notably – who are feeling pressure, are going to feel some pressure on the democratic front, and our direct interest is in supporting and keeping these guys on their thrones. I mean, is – does this contradiction bother you? I mean, a monarchy being sort of silly idea for Americans anyway.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yeah. No. But I wouldn’t accept the premise. I mean, I think that we believe in the same values and principles full stop. We believe that countries should empower their people. We believe that people should have certain universal rights. We believe there are certain economic systems that work better for the vast majority of people than other subsystems.

So I think we’re very consistent. I think that’s been a cornerstone of American foreign policy for at least the last century. At the same time, we live in the real world. And there are lots of countries that we deal with because we have interests in common. We have certain security issues that we are both looking at. Obviously, in the Middle East, Iran is an overwhelming challenge to all of us. We do business with a lot of countries whose economic systems or political systems are not ones we would design or choose to live under. And we have encouraged consistently, both publicly and privately, reform and recognition and protection of human rights. But we don’t walk away from dealing with China because we think they have a deplorable human rights record. We don’t walk away from dealing with Saudi Arabia –

QUESTION: And they’re acting very scared right now, in fact.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, they are. They’re worried, and they are trying to stop history, which is a fool’s errand. They cannot do it. But they’re going to hold it off as long as possible. And they are –

QUESTION: Who would’ve thought that something that happened in Tunisia could –

SECRETARY CLINTON: Think about it. But that’s how –

QUESTION: (Inaudible) it’s amazing.

SECRETARY CLINTON: I mean, you think about historical events.

A final comment: There are references here to her doctrine and her administration.  She states that she indeed has her own doctine.  I would be gratified to see her have her own administration.

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Happy Birthday Paraguay! Love, Hillary Clinton and the People of the USA!

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, U. S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 13, 2011| 2 Comments »

Video Remarks for Paraguay’s Independence Day
Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 16, 2011


A Spanish version is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzj4g2hN3l4

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Happy Bicentennial, Paraguay! On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes as you celebrate your independence. Today, we honor the heroes of Paraguay who stood up and fought for your freedom 200 years ago.This bicentennial is an opportunity to pay tribute to your vibrant culture and your commitment to building peace, increasing economic opportunities and strengthening democratic institutions.

Our two countries are bound together by shared history, common values and ties of friendship and family. Every day, the people of Paraguay and the United States trade, collaborate, and learn from each another. We are working together on everything from halting the flow of narcotics to curbing the effects of climate change. Through our Peace Corps programs and other cultural exchanges, we are forging even deeper bonds that enrich us all.

So as you celebrate with family and friends at picnics and parades, please know that the United States stands with you. We are committed to strengthening and deepening our relationship to help build a more peaceful and prosperous future for all of our people. Congratulations.

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