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TOPIC: A sneak peek at Hillary Clinton’s new global strategy (WaPo 10/24/10)

Jen the Michigander

SuperModerator

Status: Offline

Posts: 1788

Date: Oct 24, 2010

A sneak peek at Hillary Clinton’s new global strategy (WaPo 10/24/10)	Permalink

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/22/AR2010102203592.html Every four years, the Pentagon puts out its Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), a massive document laying out military strategies, objectives, threats and doctrine, and setting priorities from spending on future weapons systems to the training of America’s armed forces. But what about the diplomats? Not to be outdone, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced last year that the State Department would begin issuing its own Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. “Instead of simply trying to adjust to the way things are,” Clinton said in July 2009, when she announced the initiative, “we need to get in the habit of looking to the horizon and planning for how we want things to be.” “In the 21st century, a diplomat is as likely to meet with a tribal elder in a rural village as a counterpart in a foreign ministry, and is as likely to wear cargo pants as a pinstriped suit,” Clinton writes. She calls on diplomats to engage directly with the private sector, civil society and opinion leaders, especially in authoritarian states. How? By drawing from all agencies of the U.S. government to create a “global civilian service of the same caliber and flexibility of the U.S. military.” Note the second “D” in QDDR. Clinton wants to elevate development as a co-equal among the priorities of U.S. foreign policy. “Strengthening middle classes around the world will be key to creating the just and sustainable international order that lies at the heart of the United States’ national security strategy,” she writes. She also threads the needle on the old debates about the links between destitution and extremism: “Poverty and repression do not automatically engender terrorism,” Clinton says, “but countries that are impoverished, corrupt, lawless . . . are more prone to becoming havens for terrorists and other criminals.” “The House and Senate have appropriated hundreds of billions of dollars for the military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Clinton writes. “The diplomatic and development activities there represent a fraction of that cost, yet the funding often gets bogged down in old debates over foreign aid. . . . These missions can succeed, but only with the necessary congressional leadership and support.” And that is really the critical question. Clinton and her colleagues at State can write all the strategy documents and policy reviews they want, but in midst of an economic crisis and exploding deficits, will they get the resources to see their vision come to life? __________________ Nobody puts THIS baby in the corner!

Sanders

Diamond

Status: Offline

Posts: 4567

Date: Oct 24, 2010

Great! Mark of a good leader once again! And to think they didnt have such a strategic plan until now! Wow!

QDDR! Got to remember. I went to the article and could not find the full expansion. Will revisit.

__________________

Democracy needs defending - SOS Hillary Clinton, Sept 8, 2010
Democracy is more than just elections - SOS Hillary Clinton, Oct 28, 2010

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