generalspeaking

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

America, Back in Business

"Clinton rethought U.S. foreign policy, both how we conduct it and how we think about it. [Believing that the central organizing principle of U.S. foreign policy] "is to secure and sustain America's global leadership to mobilize coalitions of countries and actors to solve global problems that no one country or no one group can solve on its own for all of the big challenges that we face across the board, and that requires a different way of doing business.
"[She was responsible for making women "more central to all of the work of U.S. foreign policy in our foreign policy goals", [with economic development central, harnessing] "the role of new tools and new technologies in 21st-Century statecraft.
"Being out there, not just herself but all of her senior diplomats and development experts in every corner and every capital around the world has been an important hallmark for the type of robust American engagement that is matched to the times we live in."
Jake Sullivan, director, policy planning, U.S. State Department

Not that Hillary Clinton was the only female who distinguished herself in her post; former President George W. Bush had the capable and energetic Condoleeza Rice in that role, and former President Bill Clinton's choice was the estimable and brilliant Madeleine Albright. All three performed more that credibly in their function as Secretary of State. And all three are now distancing themselves from public office, having distinguished themselves superbly, to exhaustion, doing credit to their gender and furthering the diplomacy of their country, as they saw fit to do.

And now, it's back to the bland and the predictable. President Barack Obama will be sworn into office for his second term on January 20, to somewhat lesser acclaim and expectations than first time around when he was surrounded by female Cabinet choices. And now? None. Advisers, yes, discreetly in the background. And Senator John Kerry now has the second-best post he has long been awaiting and strenuously, enthusiastically working toward. And the move to begin withdrawing funding from the military, and lowering international expectations of American intervention, other than drone action de-activating jihadist chiefs has begun in earnest.

Now it's full steam ahead, once again, for Mr. Kerry building on what his predecessors have accomplished. Depending on the discussion, not too much - or turning the world right side up again. Nuclear proliferation is top of the agenda, along with the potential for nuclear terrorism. "That is a fundamental and enormous threat to the American people and to people everywhere", intoned Mr. Sullivan, as instructed. In their determination we trust. Particularly in those areas of the world where fossil fuels are steadily pumped and shipped out to the United States which cannot break itself of the habit of funding Arab oil states.

"That threat is an acute threat but it is certainly not the only one. The threat from al-Qaeda, the threat from climate change, the threat from so many other challenges that we face as a country and that the world faces together need to be dealt with and no one of them can be put on the back burner because all of them demand a constant and vigilant attention of the president and his entire national security team." The U.S. is busy on strategy with the Gulf States Council "on a set of issues related to ballistic missile defence, maritime security, piracy and other security challenges that Gulf nations face."

The United States does "not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity" by Israel in the West Bank, he stated acerbically, taking his cue from his president, a "provocative" move that must and will be condemned by this administration, one that has been instrumental in alienating the wider community from the Israeli agenda and obviously justifying President Obama's characterization of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu as a 'political coward', for not bending to the will of Israel's great benefactor.

"If Israel, a small state in an inhospitable region, becomes more of a pariah -- one that alienates even the affections of the U.S., its last steadfast friend -- it won't survive" wrote journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, paraphrasing President Obama's pronouncements of righteous indignation. "Iran poses a short-term threat to Israel's survival; Israel's own behaviour poses a long-term one" - in his exceedingly knowledgeable estimation.

If - and as - the United States turns its majestic ship away from steaming toward Israel's side at her time of need it is entirely Israel's fault, and so be it.

Labels: Communication, Controversy, Crisis Politics, Culture, Defence, Hypocrisy, Middle East, Political Realities, Security, United States