Secretary Clinton Calls for Elevation of Development and Diplomacy
In a major address at the Council of Foreign Relations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continued her call to invest in development and diplomacy as critical tools of our foreign policy. Defining smart power as “central to our thinking and decision-making,” Secretary Clinton advanced the Obama Administration’s commitment to strengthening America’s civilian capacity both in resources and effectiveness.
The speech followed Secretary Clinton’s announcement to launch a strategic review of development and diplomacy, the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), in order to “explore how to effectively design, fund, and implement development and foreign assistance as part of a broader foreign policy.” The USGLC hailed the QDDR announcement and her “smart power” foreign policy speech as important steps in advancing our “security, our prosperity and our values.”
- Secretary Clinton’s CFR Speech
- Secretary Clinton’s Remarks at USAID Town Hall
- USGLC Press Statement on QDDR Announcement
- QDDR Fact Sheet
Clinton Outlines Smart Power Vision in CFR Speech
In her speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, Secretary Clinton identified five key themes that define the Obama Administration’s smart power approach to U.S. foreign policy:
- Strengthen cooperation with our partners
- Lead with diplomacy
- Elevate and integrate development as a core pillar of American power
- Improve U.S. civilian and military coordination
- Leverage all aspects of American global leadership
This approach is consistent with the USGLC’s Impact ’08 call to elevate and strengthen America’s non-military tools of global engagement. The USGLC is hopeful that this approach will translate into greater resources for and effective use of development and diplomacy given the global challenges of the 21st Century. As Secretary Clinton told the audience, “we need a new mindset about how America will use its power to safeguard our nation, expand shared prosperity, and help more people in more places live up to their God-given potential.”
Clinton Calls for Review of Development and Diplomacy
Last week’s announcement of the creation of a formal Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) was another step forward in the USGLC’s call to “put smart power to work.” In announcing the QDDR, Secretary Clinton explained her goal of assessing U.S. development and diplomacy programs and approaches across the U.S. government to identify opportunities for improvement, increase efficiency, and achieve better results and to better match priorities and resources to ensure the State Department and USAID have what they need to meet their goals.
The QDDR process will be led by Jack Lew, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Budget, and co-chaired by Anne-Marie Slaughter, Director of Policy Planning at the State Department and Alonzo Fulgham, the acting USAID Administrator. The process will include input from Capitol Hill and other outside stakeholders.
In responding to the QDDR announcement, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) recently said, “I share the Secretary’s view of the importance of undertaking a comprehensive and strategic planning process that will clarify the goals and objectives of our foreign policy and foreign aid programs, define the roles of the various civilian agencies in implementing them, and identify the appropriate resources and mechanisms for achieving them.”
In a related move, Chairman Berman led the successful effort to pass legislation in the House (H.R. 2410) calling for a similar review effort, and both Chairman Berman and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) are moving forward on legislation to rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act.
