Upon taking office, the new Obama administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced plans to increase resources devoted to diplomacy and foreign assistance and expand the size of the Foreign Service and its representation abroad. Secretary Clinton cited “defense, diplomacy, and development” as the three legs to the stool of American foreign policy. She also outlined a foreign policy based on “principles and pragmatism” and the use of “smart power,” applying the diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural tools appropriate to each situation. The new administration appointed special envoys for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Southwest Asia and the Gulf, Sudan, the Muslim world, climate change, global women’s issues, and to build public-private partnerships and engage Diaspora communities in the U.S., and a special representative for North Korea policy.
During its first few months, the new administration focused on efforts to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, chart a way forward on Middle East peace, and address the nuclear ambitions of Iran. It also emphasized resetting relations with Russia, further developing cooperation with China, and maintaining close ties with allies in Europe and Asia and with countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Secretary Clinton appears on television shows in Indonesia
February 2009
In a major foreign policy speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in July 2009, Secretary Clinton outlined five policy approaches: 1) Updating and creating vehicles for cooperation with international partners, including traditional allies, emerging powers, and multilateral institutions; 2) Pursuing principled engagement with adversaries and other nations with whom the U.S. disagrees; 3) Elevating and integrating economic development abroad as a core pillar of American power; 4) Integrating civilian and military efforts in conflict areas so that they operate in a coordinated and complementary fashion; and 5) Strengthening traditional sources of U.S. influence, including economic strength and the power of example. According to the Secretary, the Obama administration plans to adopt these policy approaches to advance key priorities, including “a world free of violent extremism, nuclear weapons, global warming, poverty, and abuses of human rights, and above all, a world in which more people and more places can live up to their God-given potential.”
Hillary Rodham Clinton |
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