America in the World

'No big mistakes but no real progress' says Time magazine's review of Obama's foreign policies

In a profile of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Time magazine's Joe Klein - a Democrat-supporter - tries hard to be positve but cannot help but voice worries about the direction of Barack Obama's foreign policy:

"There is a growing perception that the Administration's policies have been thwarted across the board: Afghanistan is a mess, Iran seems ready to scuttle the nuclear negotiations, there's no progress in the Middle East, the Syrians and North Koreans remain recalcitrant, the Russians have been offered a freebie on missile defense, and the Chinese have been given a pass on human rights with no apparent quid pro quos...

There is also a growing sense that the President's inexperience is beginning to show — not in his overall policy, which represents the views of a broad, moderate national-security consensus ranging from Brent Scowcroft to John Kerry, but in his execution of the details. The Afghan strategy review has been too public and taken too long; the Middle East peace hunt has become a wild goose chase. A letter to Iran's Supreme Leader is a productive gesture only if it gets a response; if it doesn't, it seems weak and supplicatory. A call for the Israelis to freeze settlements is effective only if it is accompanied by the credible threat of a reduction in aid. "You can't be seen pushing countries around — demanding [that] Israel freeze settlements, demanding that Hamid Karzai reform his government — and not get results," says Leslie H. Gelb, author of Power Rules. "The leaders of these countries are tough, successful politicians, and they'll begin to take you less seriously."

Klein does, however, argue that Obama possesses "the wisdom to have refrained from doing anything so wildly stupid as invading Iraq".

Read the full piece.

Hillary Clinton says inconsistent American foreign policy is partly to blame for rise of Taliban in Pakistan

Mrs Clinton, US Secretary of State, made her comments in testimony to the Congress.  She was speaking as news emerged that Taliban militants havd "established effective control of a strategically important district [Buner] just 70 miles from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad":

"On Wednesday heavily armed Taliban militants were patrolling villages, and the local police had retreated to their station houses in much of Buner, officials and residents said. The staff members of local nongovernmental organizations have been ordered to leave, and their offices have been looted, they said. Pakistani television news channels showed Taliban fighters triumphantly carrying office equipment out of the offices of the organizations."

Mrs Clinton said that America had failed to stay with Pakistan after successfully supporting anti-Soviet rebels during the 1980s.  America withdrew leaving Pakistan to cope with militant freedom fighters inside its territory - many under the spell of Saudi-financed Wahhabism.

Clinton urges China not to repeat America's environmental "mistakes"

Report from USA Today:

"Clinton encouraged China not to repeat the "same mistakes" as Western countries. "When we were industrializing and growing we didn't know any better," she said. "Neither did Europe. Now we are smart enough to figure out how to have the right kind of growth, sustainable growth, clean energy driven growth. This plant could be a model."

Vowing to build an "important partnership" to speed "our transition to low-carbon economies," Clinton cited three areas for Sino-U.S. co-operation: renewable energy, the capture and storage of CO2 from coal plants, and energy efficiency in buildings."

Hillary Clinton emphasises first foreign trip is to Indonesia

Telegraph report: Hillary Clinton reaches out to Muslims.

Obama opts for continuity as well as change in foreign policy appointments

AmericaInTheWorld's Tim Montgomerie has written for The Guardian's website about Barack Obama's foreign policy appointments, confirmed today (including the reappointment of Defence Secretary Gates, pictured above):

"In adopting hawkish positions on Afghanistan, Iraq and supporting General Petraeus' cross-border raids into Pakistan, it is clear that the era of American exceptionalism is far from over. Barack Obama's America will remain a nation that is inclined to intervention, is willing to use military force when necessary and is supportive of Israel. All those who fear a world without American involvement can rejoice at that."

Read the full piece here.

America's next Secretary of State?

There is much speculation that Senator Hillary Clinton could be America's next Secretary of State - responsible, with the President, for formulating and expounding US foreign policy.  We have collated some of the statements on foreign policy made by America's former First Lady:

Priorities for US foreign policy

Priorities and vision for foreign policy: “Q: When future historians write of your administration's foreign policy pursuits, what will be noted as your doctrine and the vision you cast for U.S. diplomatic relations?

Clinton: It will be a doctrine of restoring America's leadership and moral authority through multilateral organizations, through attempts to come to agreements on issues ranging from global warming to stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other dangerous weapons. It will be a doctrine that demonstrates that the United States is not afraid to cooperate; that through cooperation in our interdependent world, we actually can build a stronger country and a stronger world that will be more reflective of our values.”

The use of force

“We cannot negotiate with individual terrorists; they must be hunted down and captured or killed. Nor can diplomacy alone stop the perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity in places such as Darfur. But soldiers are not the answer to every problem. Using force in lieu of diplomacy compels our young men and women in uniform to carry out missions that they may not be trained or prepared for. And it ignores the value of simply carrying a big stick, rather than using it.”