Administration Appointee Announcement Watch
As President-elect Obama announces appointments to his Cabinet, White House and the rest of his administration, the Center will profile the individuals in the specific positions listed below, that deal with American global engagement. Please continue to check this page for updates as appointments are announced.
White House Chief of Staff
Representative Rahm Emanuel
 As a member of Congress, Representative Emanuel has been a strong supporter of the International Affairs Budget. In 2008, Representative Emanuel was awarded the Global Development Award from the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign in appreciation of his commitment to supporting the International Affairs Budget. Emanuel has been a consistent supporter of an annual bipartisan Congressional letter to the President in support of increased resources for these programs, and has voted in support of foreign assistance spending bills throughout his tenure.
Past Government Experience:
Prior to his election to Congress, Emanuel served as a senior advisor to President Clinton.
Current Position:
Emanuel has been in Congress since 2003. At the beginning of his second term, Emanuel was assigned to the House Ways and Means Committee and as Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In January, 2007, Emanuel was elected to serve as Democratic Caucus Chair and is the 4th highest ranking Member of the House Democratic Leadership.
As Chair, Emanuel led the Democratic Caucus in passing legislation pertaining to ethics reform, strengthened national security, increased minimum wage, expanded stem cell research, lowered cost of prescription drugs, and subsidies for the oil industries.
Full Bio
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
Congressman Emanuel’s father was born in Jerusalem and Emanuel served as a civilian volunteer for the Israeli army during the 1991 Gulf War. Before his election to Congress, Emanuel served as managing director at a leading global investment bank.
Legislation:
Rep. Emanuel has a history of supporting a robust international affairs budget. Most recently:
• Rep. Emanuel voted in favor of the final passage in the House of the International Affairs Budget for fiscal year 2008.
• Rep. Emanuel voted in favor of legislation authorizing $48 billion for global HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis programs (PEPFAR) for the next five fiscal years, which passed the House on July 24, 2008 by a vote of 303-115.
• Rep. Emanuel signed a letter to the President urging a robust increase in the FY09 International Affairs Budget as a critical investment in “strategic tools that are essential to protecting our national security, building economic prosperity and demonstrating our moral values.”
Rep. Emanuel has also sponsored numerous bills relevant to international development and diplomacy including, as just a few recent examples:
• Co-sponsored H.Con.Res. 7, Calling on the League of Arab States and each Member State individually to acknowledge the genocide in the Darfur Region of Sudan and to step up their efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur.
• Co-sponsored H.Con.Res.172, Affirming the commitment and leadership of the United States to improve the lives of the world’s 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty and conditions of misery, 5/26/05
• Co-sponsored H.Res.782 Affirming the commitments made by the U.S. at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa, to improve worldwide access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation services, 9/21/04
Selected Statements:
Emanuel, U.S. Global Leadership Campaign Award Ceremony, July 16, 2008
[Speaking to members of the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign] “[Y]our efforts are making a difference in building bipartisan support for the International Affairs Budget in Congress.”
Emanuel, “Statement on Politics and HIV,” The Body.com, July/August 2006 - Link
“I am committed to ending the global occurrence of HIV/AIDS. I greatly support increased funding for research, prevention, healthcare and housing to combat the suffering resulting from AIDS in the United States and abroad. I believe that it is necessary for the United States to take action to prevent the spread of this deadly disease, and that government action is essential.”
Emanuel, Regarding Columbia Trade: April 10, 2008 - Link
“Globalization can be a good thing if you have an agenda. And just trade alone is not an agenda to make sure that the middle class in this country that built this country since World War II are strengthened to compete and win in this globalized economy. And what we’re insuring today is that we have, in fact, a trade deal, it is not seen as a cost to the American people, but seen as an opportunity to succeed in that world. And we today are making sure that there is a win-win strategy to that globalization.”
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National Security Advisor
General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret.)
.jpg) General James “Jim” Jones is a member of the Center for U.S. Global Engagement’s National Security Advisory Council. Along with over fifty other three and four star generals and admirals, General Jones issued a call to the presidential candidates to elevate support for the use of smart power.
Current Role with President Elect:
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke has no official affiliation with Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Past Government Experience:
General Jim Jones is the former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and the Commander of the United States European Command and also served as the 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps. Jones retired from the United States Marine Corps on February 1, 2007 after 40 years of service. During his final assignment, he helped the North Atlantic Treaty Organization organize discussions on energy issues and the defense of critical infrastructures, and he worked to advocate energy security as a core part of NATO’s future missions.
Since retiring from the military, he has served as Chairman of the Congressional Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq and as special envoy for Middle East Security.
Current Position:
He is currently the Chairman of the Atlantic Council of the United States.
Full Biography
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
A decorated combat veteran, Jones has worked closely with government, business, and civic leaders in an effort to protect and advance U.S. and allied interests around the world. He is a leading proponent of overhauling U.S. defense, diplomacy, and foreign development programs to deal with the emerging threats of the 21st century.
Selected Statements:
General Jones, Statement before the House Armed Services Committee, April 7, 2006 - Link
“One program that demonstrates the ability of the Department of State, Department of Defense, and USAID to work in a collaborative way on regional security is the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative (TSCTI). TSCTI is the long-term interagency plan to combat terrorism in trans-Saharan Africa using a full range of political, economic, development and security tools… The overall approach is straightforward: to build indigenous capacity and facilitate cooperation among governments in the region.”
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Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
.jpg) Past Government Experience:
Senator Clinton has been a longtime leader in advocating for a robust international affairs budget going back to her days as First Lady, when she traveled extensively throughout the world. She was an early supporter of the Center’s sister organization, the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign.
Current Position:
As the only First Lady of the United States elected to public office and first woman elected independently statewide in New York, Senator Clinton serves on four Senate committees including the Armed Services Committee, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Special Committee on Aging.
Full Biography
During her 2008 presidential campaign, Senator Clinton answered Impact ’08’s call, pledging, if elected, to:
• Invest $50 billion by 2013 to combat AIDS across the globe and increase the number of health workers in Africa by 1 million.
• Press for quick passage of legislation she introduced to invest $10 billion over five years for the goal of basic education around the globe.
• Ensure complete debt cancellation for all Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and expand HIPC to include more than 20 additional poor countries.
• Make significant progress toward spending an additional 1 percent of the federal budget on foreign assistance.
See more of Senator Clinton’s foreign policy comments from the campaign
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
In 2004, Senator Clinton was asked by the Department of Defense to serve as the Senate member of a Transformation Advisory Group to the Joint Forces Command. In 2007, Senator Clinton co-sponsored the Education for All Act to work towards the goal of universal basic education. The legislation would provide $10 billion over the next five years to train teachers, build schools, develop effective curricula, increase access to school lunch and school health programs, and increase parent and community involvement in schools.
Legislation:
Senator Clinton has demonstrated support for robust U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance during her tenure in the U.S. Senate. She signed the bipartisan letters to the President urging an ample increase in the International Affairs budget for FY 2003 through 2009 as a critical investment "in strategic tools that are essential to protecting our national security, building economic prosperity and demonstrating our moral values." Most recently, Senator Clinton:
• Co-sponsored the successful fight in the Senate to adopt the Biden-Lugar Amendment to the FY09 Senate Budget Resolution restoring $4.1 billion in funding to the International Affairs Budget, which was cut from the Administration’s request of $39.8 by the Senate Budget Committee. The Senate adopted the amendment by an impressive, bipartisan vote of 73-23.
• Voted in favor of successful legislation to authorize $48 billion for global HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis programs (PEPFAR) for the next five years, which passed the Senate on July 16, 2008 by a bipartisan vote of 80-16 and the House on July 24, 2008 by a vote of 303-115.
• Signed the bipartisan letter to the President urging a robust increase the International Affairs budget for FY 2009 as a critical investment “in strategic tools that are essential to protecting our national security, building economic prosperity and demonstrating our moral values.”
Senator Clinton has also sponsored numerous bills relevant to international development and diplomacy including, as just a few recent examples:
• Sponsored S.3909 to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for developing countries to promote quality basic education and to establish the achievement of universal basic education in all developing countries as an objective of U.S. foreign assistance policy.
• Co-sponsored S.2465 to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide increased assistance for the prevention, treatment, and control of tuberculosis, and for other purposes.
• Co-sponsored S.RES.383 calling on the President to take immediate steps to help improve the security situation in Darfur, Sudan, with an emphasis on civilian protection.
• Co-sponsored S.1129 to provide authorizations of appropriations for certain development banks, and for other purposes.
• Co-sponsored S.2125 to promote relief, security, and democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Selected Statements:
Clinton, Foreign Affairs article: November/December 2007 - Link
“Gnawing hunger, poverty, and the absence of economic prospects are a recipe for despair. Globalization is widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots within societies and between them. Today, there are more than two billion people living on less than $2 a day. These people risk becoming a vast permanent underclass. Calls for expanding civil and political rights in countries plagued by mass poverty and ruled by tiny wealthy elites will fall on deaf ears unless democracy actually delivers enough material benefits to improve people's lives.”
Clinton, Speech at George Washington University: February 25, 2008 - Link
“We need a president who understands there is a time for force, a time for diplomacy, and a time for both, who understands that we enhance our international reputation and strengthen our security if the world sees the human face of American democracy in the good works, the good deeds we do for people seeking freedom from poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, and oppression.”
Clinton, Compassion Forum: April 13, 2008 - Link
“I commend President Bush for his PEPFAR initiative. It was a very bold and important commitment, but it didn't go far enough in opening up the door to generics and getting the costs down. And as president, I will do that.”
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Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates
 In July of 2008, Secretary Gates was honored at a tribute dinner hosted by the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign recognizing his leadership in support of the U.S. International Affairs Budget.
Past Government Experience:
Secretary Gates joined the CIA in 1966 and spent 27 years as an intelligence professional. He spent nine years at the National Security Council, serving four presidents of both political parties. Secretary Gates served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 to 1993. He was also Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser at the White House from 1989 to 1991.
Current Position:
Robert Gates currently serves as the 22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
Gates' professional career has focused predominantly on national security issues. Since he became Secretary of Defense in 2006, Gates has been a vocal proponent of elevating U.S. diplomatic and foreign aid and of shifting the burden of development from the military to civilian agencies.
Full Bio
Selected Statements:
Gates, Remarks at the 2008 US Global Leadership Campaign Tribute Dinner, 7/15/08 - Link
“Broadly speaking, when it comes to America’s engagement with the rest of the world, you probably don’t hear this often from a Secretary of Defense, it is important that the military is – and is clearly seen to be – in a supporting role to civilian agencies.”
Gates, Remarks at the 2008 US Global Leadership Campaign Tribute Dinner, 7/15/08 - Link
“It has become clear that America’s civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically undermanned and underfunded for far too long – relative to what we spend on the military, and more important, relative to the responsibilities and challenges our nation has around the world.”
Gates, Remarks at the 2008 US Global Leadership Campaign Tribute Dinner, 7/15/08 - Link
“I cannot pretend to know the right dollar amount – I know it’s a good deal more than the one percent of the federal budget that it is right now. But the budgets we are talking about are relatively small compared to the rest of government, a steep increase of these capabilities is well within reach – as long as there is the political will and wisdom to do it.”
Gates, Remarks at the 2008 US Global Leadership Campaign Tribute Dinner, 7/15/08 - Link
“In recent years the lines separating war, peace, diplomacy, and development have become more blurred, and no longer fit the neat organizational charts of the 20th century. All the various elements and stakeholders working in the international arena – military and civilian, government and private – have learned to stretch outside their comfort zone to work together and achieve results.”
Gates, November 26, 2007 Address at Kansas State University - Link
"One of the most important lessons of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that military success is not sufficient to win: economic development, institution-building and the rule of law, promoting internal reconciliation, good governance, providing basic services to the people, training and equipping indigenous military and police forces, strategic communications, and more – these, along with security, are essential ingredients for long-term success."
Gates, “To Succeed in Afghanistan will require much more than just guns” The Independent, 10/17/08 - Link
“To be successful, the full panoply of military and civilian elements must integrate better. These efforts today – however well-intentioned and even heroic – add up to less than the sum of the parts. The list of accomplishments is long. But so is the list of obstacles. We must overcome them. We must be prepared to change old ways of doing business and create new institutions – both nationally and internationally – to deal with the long-term challenges we face abroad. And our own national security toolbox must be well-equipped with more than just hammers.”
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Secretary of Treasury
Timothy F. Geithner
.jpg) Past Government Experience:
Before joining the International Monetary Fund in 2001, Geithner worked in the Treasury Department under three administrations in various positions, including under secretary for international affairs from 1999 to 2001. Mr. Geithner played a crucial role in calming several global financial crises during the Clinton administration, including the turmoil in emerging markets in the 1990s that led to the meltdown of Long-Term Capital Management.
Current Position:
Timothy F. Geithner has been president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since November 2003.
Full Biography
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
Mr. Geithner was previously a senior official at the International Monetary Fund from 2001 until 2003. Mr. Geithner graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in government and Asian studies in 1983, and from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies with an M.A. in International Economics and East Asian Studies in 1985. He has studied Japanese and Chinese and has lived in East Africa, India, Thailand, China, and Japan.
Mr. Geithner is a member of the Group of Thirty, a Washington-based financial advisory body that aims to deepen understanding of international economic and financial issues, including exploring international repercussions to decisions taken in the public and private sector.
Selected Statements:
Geithner, Testimony before House Committee on Financial Services: July 24, 2008 - Link
“[A]s we adapt the U.S. framework, we have to work to bring about a consensus among the major economies on a complementary global framework. Given the level of financial integration globally, we cannot achieve a reasonable balance at home between efficiency and stability, without a complementary framework of supervision and regulation across the other major financial centers.”
Geithner, Remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations Corporate Conference: March 6, 2008 - Link
[Describing challenges facing the financial system] “Global savings appeared to rise faster than did perceived real investment opportunities, and this development helped to push down real long-term interest rates around the world. At the same time, many emerging market economies built up very large levels of official reserves to reduce external vulnerability and to hold the value of their currencies stable against the dollar. The exchange rate policies in these economies—economies that together accounted for a increasing share of global GDP—made overall global financial conditions more accommodative, even as the United States and other countries tightened their monetary policies.”
Geithner, Remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations Corporate Conference: March 6, 2008 - Link
“The United States, the world economy, and the financial system as a whole, are more resilient, than they were on the eve of previous downturns. The improvements in productivity growth in the United States of the past decade have been followed by significant improvements in potential growth and wealth accumulation in many other countries. The scale of investable assets around the globe is very substantial, and this will be an important source of demand for risk assets. The improvements in monetary policy credibility and in financial strength developed over the past few decades mean that policy around the world has more room to adjust to deal with the challenge in the present environment.”
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Director, Office of Management and Budget
Peter R. Orszag
Past Government Positions: Served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Senior Economic Adviser at the National Economic Council during 1997 and 1998. He previously served as a staff economist and then Senior Adviser and Senior Economist for the President's Council of Economic Advisers.
Current Position: Director of Congressional Budget Office since 2007
Full Biography
Official Blog
Foreign Policy-Related Activities: Dr. Orszag is known for his centrist economic views and deep expertise in many of today’s most pressing economic issues, including health care and climate change. His previous government positions have had significant international components. As Senior Adviser at the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Orszag wrote the 1996 APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] Economic Outlook, and also wrote and edited sections of the Weekly Economic Briefing of the President and the Economic Report of the President. He also represented the United States at various international meetings, including for APEC and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Selected Statements:
Orszag, “Growth, Opportunity, and Prosperity in a Globalizing Economy,” July, 2006 - Link
“The world economy is becoming increasingly integrated, presenting both substantial opportunities and substantial risks…To meet these challenges, the nation must not only embrace the promise of international competition, but also find new ways to secure a more equitable distribution of the benefits and costs of open trade and to provide greater security to U.S. families struggling with the risks associated with globalization.”
Orszag, “Climate Change Economics,” Washington Post: July 9, 2008 - Link
“Given that climate change is a global problem, effective solutions will require care toward not only these domestic design issues but in coordinating efforts with other major emitters. Whereas timing flexibility and the use of revenue from allowance sales can be legislated, such coordination is difficult to legislate -- but may be easier to negotiate the more credible the U.S. effort.”
Orszag, “Cool-headed But Warm-hearted economics,” Boston Globe: December 3, 2006 - Link
“We can learn lessons from Europe. In the Nordic economies (such as Denmark), market flexibility and competition have been combined with social insurance schemes that protect family incomes but also encourage work. In the continental European countries (such as France and Germany), governments have intervened directly in the workings of the market. The Nordic approach works better. Trying to shut down the process of creative destruction creates macroeconomic stagnation.”
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Ambassador to the United Nations
Dr. Susan E. Rice
.jpg) Susan Rice spoke at the Center for U.S. Global Engagement and National Democratic Institute event at the Democratic National Convention about Senator Barack Obama’s commitment to development and diplomacy as critical tools of national security. She also represented Senator Obama at the Center’s Impact ’08 in South Carolina event in January 2008.
Current Position:
Dr. Rice is currently on leave from the Brookings Institution, where she holds the position of Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Global Economy and Development.
Past Government Experience:
Rice served President Clinton as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1997-2001. She also served in various capacities on President Clinton’s National Security Council, including Senior Director for African Affairs and Director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping at the National Security Council.
Full Bio
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
As Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Dr. Rice visited the majority of the 48 states in Sub-Saharan Africa and lobbied for increasing foreign aid to the region. She supported an all-African peacekeeping force to avert conflict on the continent and supported a congressional measure that allowed Washington to provide food assistance to the rebels in Sudan. Dr. Rice’s work at the Brookings Institution has focused on U.S. foreign policy, weak and failing states, the implications of global poverty and transnational security threats.
Relevant Statements:
Rice, Building a Better, Safer World, August 28, 2008 - Link
“Brokering and supporting peace in conflict zones around the world from the Middle East to Africa, to South Asia, and investing in global poverty reduction, and building the capacity of people in states to provide more effectively for their people, and for their societies, and to govern democratically and responsibly -- all of these are part of an affirmative agenda that Senator Obama is powerfully committed to pursuing.”
Rice, “The Weak State Gap,” The Washington Post: March 7, 2008 - Link
“The United States should increase overall assistance levels to support a wider cohort of weak states and combine development assistance with democracy support, market access, peacekeeping and security sector reform.”
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Deputy Secretary of State
Jacob Lew
Jacob J. Lew is a Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Citi Alternative Investments. Prior to joining Citi, Mr. Lew was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of New York University. Prior to joining NYU, Mr. Lew served in President Clinton's cabinet as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where he led the Administration budget team in preparing the President's budget and shepherding it through negotiations with Congress. He was also a member of the National Security Council.
Full Biography
Selected Statements:
Lew, Remarks at the Brookings Institution, May 26, 1999 - Link
Similarly extreme cuts are called for in the House bills for the environment, in veterans' programs, law enforcement, foreign policy, and more -- reducing by 12% funding to the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State with severe cuts to the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other law enforcement programs; these allocations call for cuts of 19% in the Interior Department, and of 23% in Foreign Operations below current spending levels. Again these double-digit cuts are not just below proposed increases in the Administration’s budget for FY2000. Cuts of this magnitude would make it impossible for us to protect our borders, keep our citizens safe or conduct foreign policy at a crucial time in a dangerous world.
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Deputy Secretary of State
James B. Steinberg
 Mr. Steinberg is the Dean of the Lyndon Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. From 1996-2000, he served as Deputy National Security Advisor to President Bill Clinton. During that period he also served as the president's personal representative to the 1998 and 1999 G-8 summits. Prior to becoming Deputy National Security Advisor, he held several positions at the U.S. State Department, including Chief of Staff, Director of Policy Planning and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Analysis in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He has also served as National Security and Military Affairs Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
Full Biography
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
Mr. Steinberg is a long-time proponent of strengthening the role of diplomacy and foreign assistance in America’s national security strategy. He contributed to several recent reports on addressing U.S. foreign policy challenges, including the Project on National Security Reform’s “Preliminary Findings” and The Phoenix Initiative’s “Strategic Leadership: Framework for a 21st Century”. In addition to his various government positions, he was also Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. (2001-2005), where he supervised a wide-ranging research program on U.S. foreign policy.
Selected Statements:
Steinberg et al, Strategic Leadership, July, 2008 - Link
“The next president of the United States must forge a new national security strategy in a world marked by enormous tumult and change and at a time when America’s international standing and strategic position are at an historic nadir… But to do so will require a new kind of American leadership: strategic leadership… Operationally, strategic leadership has five principal requisites: exercising strong state-craft, ensuring 21st century military strength, enhancing prosperity and development, encouraging democracy and human rights, and energizing America at home.”
Steinberg, Remarks to Young Presidents’ Organization: January 17, 2008 – Link
“We see an intensification of instability in Pakistan, which contributes to the terrorist threat and risks an internal meltdown in a nuclear armed state. Behind these immediate headlines are the longer-term challenges of an increasingly assertive Russia, an economically and militarily more powerful China, and grave long term dangers like climate change, energy security, and pandemic disease.”
Steinberg, “How to Lead the World,” Newsweek: January 1, 2008 – Link
“To steer the nation in the right direction, you must begin with some core principles. Start by listening. The United States may not always agree with its friends—and certainly won't with its enemies—but there's much to be gained by entertaining others' views before heading off boldly on its own. To get off on the right foot, invite respected Islamic thinkers and leaders to an ongoing White House dialogue to bridge the gap between America and the Muslim world.”
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Deputy National Security Advisor
Thomas E. Donilon
Tom Donilon is currently a partner at the law firm of O’Melveny and Myers LLP. During the Clinton Administration, he served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Chief of Staff at the U.S. State Department.
Full Biography
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
During his tenure in the Clinton Administration, Mr. Donilon traveled to over 50 countries representing the United States and was involved intensively in the development and implementation of the Department’s major policy efforts, including the Balkans and Middle East peace negotiations, the expansion of NATO, and US-China policy.
Relevant Statements:
Statements at confirmation hearings, Assistant Secretary-designate for Public Affairs Thomas E. Donilon, April 5, 1993, Transcript - Link
“At a time when the nation is rightly focused on domestic renewal and [when] the days when any policy or program could be defended in terms of the global containment of communism are over, our foreign policy must be justified anew to the American people. They will demand that the time, attention, and money spent on foreign affairs promote their interests and values. This will, in my view, require an ongoing dialogue and conversation with the American people.”
Statements at confirmation hearings, Assistant Secretary-designate for Public Affairs Thomas E. Donilon, April 5, 1993, Transcript - Link
Why, when we urgently need renewal at home, should we continue to dedicate resources abroad? The Chicago speech responded by setting forth the central tenets of the Clinton Administration's new American foreign policy, stressing the undeniable link and interaction between domestic and foreign policy. The Secretary also outlined directly the stakes that the American people have in a successful transition to a market economy and democracy in Russia.
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National Security Advisor to the Vice President
Anthony “Tony” Blinken
 Since April 2002, Antony Blinken has served as Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. From 1994 to 2001, Mr. Blinken served on the National Security Council staff at The White House, including as Senior Director for European Affairs (1999-2001), Senior Director for Strategic Planning, and NSC Senior Director for Speechwriting (1994-1998). He had previously served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (1993-1994).
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
In July 2008 Blinken accompanied Senator Obama on his trip to Afghanistan and Iraq as a staff member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. While on the committee staff, he has taken numerous other trips abroad as well. From 2001-2002, Blinken was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Relevant Statements:
Blinken, “Winning the War of Ideas” The Washington Quarterly, Spring 2002 - Link
“The United States should become the champion of sustainable modernity. As the most prosperous country on earth, the United States bears a special responsibility and a profound self-interest to help spread the benefits and share the burdens of a globalized world. The country must become and be seen as an enthusiastic leader, not a reluctant follower, in international development, poverty alleviation, educational reform, debt relief and trade barrier removal for poor countries, as well as bridging the digital divide, preserving local cultures, combating the spread of infectious diseases and promoting good governance.”
Blinken, “Winning the War of Ideas” The Washington Quarterly, Spring 2002 - Link
“The first step toward smart power is to defuse the complaint that the United States acts unilaterally. The default approach of the U.S. government should be to work with others whenever it can and to act alone only when it must. This strategy requires building coalitions, sustaining alliances and forging compromises. It requires listening to others. It requires sensitivity to concerns about cultural Americanization. It requires strengthening international institutions whose rules foster stability, create credibility, and enshrine U.S. norms. This approach also requires working on, not walking away from, difficult issues such as climate change, the biological weapons protocol, the nuclear test ban treaty, and the international Criminal Court, lest the United States alienate its friends and give moral ammunition to its foes.”
Blinken, “Winning the War of Ideas” The Washington Quarterly, Spring 2002 - Link
“Foreign public opinion should not dictate foreign policy, but awareness of other views is vital in helping policymakers shape and explain policy. In selecting ambassadors and senior embassy officials, greater consideration should be given to language and presentation skills. These government officials should receive regular training in use of the media. Senior embassy officials should be encouraged to engage in the public debate in the countries to which they are assigned.”
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