|
  |
|
|
Advice to the next President
Saturday night on CNN, in a special report presented by Christiane Amanpour and Frank Sesno, they held a forum at George Washington University, with five of the most distinguished Secretaries of State in modern history, Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Warren Christopher, Madeline Albright, and Colin Powell. What advice would these diplomatic geniuses give the next President? These five individuals who have held the nation’s top diplomatic post, served under Presidents who have held starkly different views of diplomacy such as Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George H. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Yet what was most evident last night was how much they agreed on many of the major issues. You may not have always agreed with all their statements, but you always have to respect their opinions. Collectively they have a rich diplomatic history of dealing with some turbulent times in U.S. history, and had agreed to keep party politics out of the discussion. They almost succeeded, but when the occasional party politics did creep into the discussion, it was kept to a few quips, all of which were met with friendly banter. They all five agree that the United States’ reputation and position as a world leader has been diminished, and that to make the world a better place to live in for all of us, the United States has to reach out and re-establish itself as a leader. But in order to do so, we must repair our tarnished reputation as greedy imperialists of exploitation. They all agreed that it was imperative for the U.S to redevelop its multi-lateral relationships with our allies so we can act together in response to crises. To do so would not necessarily mean that we would be surrendering sovereignty, but on the other hand we would be making our interests clear and up front to both our allies and adversaries. Surprisingly, even the older among them identified the great danger of climate change, and agreed that in order for the world community to address the problem, it would require U.S. leadership. One light moment of the evening came when the panel was asked as a group, if they agreed that climate change and global warming were the result of human actions and activity. They all agreed, with Madeline Albright adding that she did, ”up until recently…” Her comment was a clear reference to the recent statement from Sarah Palin that global warming could not be attributed to being “man-made”. James Baker and Colin Powell jokingly called a foul against their no-politics truce. All agreed that we must establish high-level talks with Iran, and several were convinced that talks with Iran should be at the Secretary of State level. The general consensus was that we must withdraw from Iraq steadily as the situation on the ground allows. The crisis in Georgia was not so easily answered and agreed upon, except that we must work with Russia while taking our own stand on key issues and interests. Any of the five panelists would be a strong adviser to who ever becomes the next President. Their overall message was one of diplomacy over military action and multilateralism over isolationism. Let us hope that the next President is finally willing to take advice from someone who has a world vision. William S. James, For Diplomacy First |
|
 |
|
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
Author
Site to promote Freedom Zone fz2878
www.fz2878.com
|
|
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
I saw this, an excellent forum.
The copyright for this content entitled "Advice to the next President" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
