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Entries in Thomas Paine (1)

Thursday
Jul162009

The Clinton Speech: An Immediate Reaction

Video and Transcript: Hillary Clinton Speech at Council on Foreign Relations (15 July)

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CLINTON1On 15 July, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered a context for U.S. foreign policy, at the outset of the Obama Administration, at a conference held by the Council on Foreign Relations. Two neo-liberal pillars of interdependence and transnationalism support an American  soft power  in which "the ideal values" of the US, such as democracy, transparency, liberty, and freedom, become basis  for peaceful solution.

No need, therefore, to consider the prospect of a capitalism-led inequality. No reason to consider the issues that lay behind inter-state and intra-state disputes. No reference at all to the essence of today's problems, for there are God-given values of Americans which are "always appropriate" for others. Yes, if there are problems, it will clearly be because others --- from blindness or malice --- don't accept those values. As Clinton concluded:
More than 230 years ago, Thomas Paine said, “We have it within our power to start the world over again.” Today, in a new and very different era, we are called upon to use that power. I believe we have the right strategy, the right priorities, the right policies, we have the right President, and we have the American people, diverse, committed, and open to the future... Now all we have to do is deliver.