Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday October 14 - in a speech emphasizing "economic statecraft" - made the obvious but too little noted point that it is economic - rather than military - statecraft that must be our current focus. China's military power is confined to its territory - but its economic power is worldwide. Yet as the budget deficit joint committee deadline approaches we can expect much hysteria about not touching the defense budget, with bleating about the 1% we spend on foreign aid.
And, Clinton emphasized, the obstructionism practiced by Republicans in Congress (though she was polite enough to omit names) has serious consequences.
And, Clinton emphasized, the obstructionism practiced by Republicans in Congress (though she was polite enough to omit names) has serious consequences.
We have to recognize every decision we make now in this totally 24/7 interconnected world is followed around the world. A lot of people don’t understand our system very well, but when they see that we can’t make decisions on something as fundamental as to whether the United States of America will default on our debt, you’ve got to know it raises questions in their minds about where we’re headed as a nationh/t Leslie Gelb/The Daily Beast
Washington has to end the culture of political brinksmanship, which, I can tell you, raises questions around the world about our leadership. When I was in Hong Kong, I was just barraged by questions about what I thought would be the outcome of the debt ceiling negotiations. And having been around Washington now for longer than I care to admit, I was able to assure all of the business leaders and government leaders that we would get to a solution probably at the very end....
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