Hillary's Speech Posted by Michael Cohen

So I've re-read Hillary Clinton's "big" foreign policy speech from yesterday at the Council on Foreign Relations and I keep coming back to one graf in particular - the final one:

More than 230 years ago, Thomas Paine said, “We have it within our power to start the world over again.”

The subtext seems to be, after the 8 years of a disastrous and counter-productive foreign policy . . . we're pressing the reset button. Look for example at the five key elements of Clinton's approach to smart power:

First, we intend to update and create vehicles for cooperation with our partners; second, we will pursue principled engagement with those who disagree with us; third, we will elevate development as a core pillar of American power; fourth, we will integrate civilian and military action in conflict areas; and fifth, we will leverage key sources of American power, including our economic strength and the power of our example.

Except possibly for number three, pretty much every single policy here represents a none too subtle reversal of everything George Bush did wrong.  It's just a further reminder that so much of the Obama Administration's foreign policy agenda is basically cleaning up the mess that Bush left them.

There are a few other things from the speech that merit attention - both good and bad.

We also will reach out beyond governments, because we believe partnerships with people play a critical role in our 21^st century statecraft. President Obama’s Cairo speech is a powerful example of communicating directly with people from the bottom up. And we are following up with a comprehensive agenda of educational exchanges, outreach, and entrepreneurial ventures. In every country I visit, I look for opportunities to bolster civil society and engage with citizens, whether at a town hall in Baghdad – a first in that country; or appearing on local popular television shows that reach a wide and young audience; or meeting with democracy activists, war widows, or students.

This is very smart and dovetails nicely with a brilliant report that came out last Spring about the need for US policymakers to more effectively engage with civil society groups. Missing however, is a clear sense of how the US will strengthen civil society groups. Talking to citizens and getting beyond the halls of government should be a key task for our overseas diplomats, but examining ways we can use our foreign assistance programs to strengthen and bolster civil society needs to be part of this discussion. (It would be nice to see MCC and NED at the end of the spear on this one).  Still, having the Secretary of State acknowledge, as she does in the speech, that we are entering a non-state actor future - I love the phrase multi-partner world -- is music to my ears.

Secretary Clinton also made the important argument that we need to shift the balance in foreign policy away from the military and back toward civilian agencies, but in that context I found this graf really odd:

Just as we would never deny ammunition to American troops headed into battle, we cannot send our civilian personnel into the field underequipped. If we don’t invest in diplomacy and development, we will end up paying a lot more for conflicts and their consequences. As Secretary Gates has said, diplomacy is an indispensable instrument of national security, as it has been since Franklin, Jefferson and Adams won foreign support for Washington’s army.

I understand that Hillary is still a politician, but the reason we invest in diplomacy and development is not because we want to avoid future conflicts (although its not a bad idea to keep that in mind) it's because it, supposedly, furthers our interests and it is also the right thing to do. I realize that I am nitpicking here, but it would be really helpful if we stopped talking about diplomacy, development and democracy in the context of war-fighting.

This brings me to my meta complaint about the speech. I should say, first of all, this is sort of unfair critique, particularly in the context of my initial comments, but what was missing from Hilary's speech were two words I've been thinking a lot about recently - national interests.  To be sure, Hillary talks a lot about interests and priorities and shared values, but harder to discern is the strategic glue that holds it all together. The unspoken definition of US interests in HRC's speech is breathtaking? (Is there any place in the world where we don't have vital interests?)

On one level Hillary's speech reflects a more modest approach to foreign policy (certainly compared to the Bush Administration) but on the other hand it is an incredibly ambitious agenda (a point that she clearly makes).

To my mind, a more modest foreign policy would involve a far more conscripted description of vital US interests than is indicated in this speech. This isn't just a question of partnering with other countries and institutions; it's also a question of recognizing that there are many places around the globe where  stepping back and forcing other countries to lead might be the better approach.  Since the end of the Cold War the mindset of the United States has been, for the most part, we need to be everywhere and we need to lead. On some issues that is true, but on others not so much. The job of the Secretary of State and President is to identify those issues and places that are most vital to US interests. This speech doesn't do that; instead it's a recipe for more not less US involvement in the world.

For what it's worth, there are hints of that latter approach in the empowerment theme that animates some of Obama's foreign policy rhetoric and can also be seen, to a limited degree in this speech. But, if we really do want to change the mindset that got us involved in the Iraq War - and led to the disastrous Bush foreign policy -- then an effort to more clearly determine our national interests and lay out a realistic and achievable foreign policy is vitally important. That wasn't evident in Secretary Clinton's speech.

Again, I recognize that this is not a completely fair critique, 6 months into a new Administration and with the wreckage of the Bush years still around us. In that context it was actually a pretty smart speech. After the somewhat ad hoc Clinton years and the disastrous Bush years, Barack Obama and in turn, Hillary Clinton, has a unique opportunity to chart a new course for American foreign policy. He has the chance to define America's role in the world in a way that offers a new conception of the country's most vital national interests.

They need to seize that opportunity because yesterday's speech, for all its intelligence, was a status quo address, not a game changer.

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