You may not have time to watch the entire speech but at least review the PDF transcripts for a big picture, 30,000-mile high view of where Former Sec State Shultz thinks the Administration should be heading on a variety of key issues:
American Economic Primacy: The United States has a terrific political system and the most creative and dynamic economy the world has ever seen. Right now, however, the United States is not at its best. It must control its government spending to maintain its global economic position and prevent deficits that will stretch to the far horizon.
Global Engagement: Direct diplomatic engagement is irreplaceable, but the United States must do more than merely engage with others. The United States must engage them on the basis of its strengths. Discussions with Iran, for example, have gone nowhere because the United States has engaged Iran with a weak hand.
Afghan War: Initial military successes by the United States and the coalition forces were compromised by an attempt to create an Afghanistan that had never previously existed—one with a centralized government and a strong national army. Any future approach must recognize the fact that Afghanistan is a bottom-up, rather than top-down, country, and thus change must be instituted on a local rather than national level.
Terrorism: While the United States must be careful in using force for preventative action, especially in other countries, the use of force is a critical component in fighting terrorism and should be considered as a preventative measure. Furthermore, financial considerations should never be a factor in the fight against terrorism, as a government’s first and primary job is to protect its citizens. In Afghanistan, for example, the United States should not compromise its goal because of rising costs.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation: Nuclear disarmament is beyond partisan politics and should be approached as a nonpartisan issue. This will be increasingly important when the Senate is called upon to ratify and re-ratify upcoming nonproliferation treaties.
2 responses so far ↓
trevorbcook // November 30, 2009 at 12:22 am |
Wow, 30,000 mile high view, indeed! That was quite a breadth of subjects discussed in a short time period.
I was very impressed with Mr. Shultz’s presentation. Not only were his opinions informed and well-reasoned, there are several things to note about how he presented them that I think mark a good diplomatic style. Two follow:
1) Display of credible humility – He was very clear that he felt his knowledge was lacking in some areas, but this helped rather than hurt his credibility as he was strong and confident about the areas he knew and convincingly extrapolated from those.
2) He constantly complemented all the people he mentioned by name. In fact, thinking back, I don’t think he said anything negative about any specific person.
As for content, I found myself agreeing with many of his views, particularly on the state of health care reform. It reminded me of an excellent article from the Economist about a month ago. http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14753800 I liked this article because it is a succinct reminder of how the current healthcare debate is focusing on the wrong aspect of the problem, namely extending coverage first instead of controlling costs. If anyone has read this far in my comment and hasn’t yet read the Shultz transcript, I recommend you read that short Economist article first, if healthcare interests you, and it will make Mr. Shultz’s remarks more meaningful.
rmeldau // November 30, 2009 at 8:29 pm |
It seems to me, and Shultz points this out effectively, that the U.S.’s fiscal policy is the most important issue currently needing resolution. Foreign wars, international climate agreements, and healthcare restructuring all become rather unimportant if the nation loses the ability to function economically.
This article by newsweek rightly points out that any “hegemonic power” that America continues to maintain is contingent upon its ability to take the lead economically (http://www.newsweek.com/id/224694). With Obama’s plan to increase troop levels in Afghanistan, the aging of baby boomers, and the amount of borrowing the U.S. has done lately, something needs to change. Otherwise we’ll experience at a much larger scale what Argentina experienced in the early 2000s when it defaulted on its international debt.
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