Page 1 of 2 Clinton has her own problems
By Peter J Brown
Much has happened since United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made
her first trip to Asia in February. She has demonstrated that she is a capable
partner with President Barack Obama, and that she can excel as a strong team
player in his cabinet. Clinton is riding a wave of popularity that grows with
each successive trip she takes, and abundant optimism surrounds her.
As Clinton reacts to changing realities abroad, the US Department of State
itself warrants her immediate attention. In the process, she will have to wear
many hats, including a few that may not fit too comfortably as she addresses
problems involving staffing, security and strategic communications.
When she presented her department's 2009 budget to the US Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations earlier this year, Clinton
frankly admitted that far too many key staff positions overseas remained
vacant, "for the simple reason that we don't have enough personnel". In
Beijing, 18% of US Embassy positions are open. In Mumbai, she estimated that it
was 20%, and in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, it's 29%.
The immediate objective is to recruit 740 new US Foreign Service personnel as
part of a long-term expansion of the US Foreign Service by 25%. Over at the
United States Agency for International Development, which oversees an annual
foreign assistance budget of over US$13 billion, the situation is "more
severe", said Clinton.
As a result, one might think that recruitment is a top priority at the State
Department, but as summer comes to a close, Clinton confronts a sticky security
problem that apparently prevented many young interns from coming in the door in
2009.
Obtaining first-time, entry-level security clearances has become an
unpredictable process. Well-qualified young Americans with linguistic skills
and a strong interest in global commerce and international affairs might find
that getting a job in China is easier than getting an internship at the State
Department.
The scope of the problem at the department is hard to gauge. In his August
article on this troubling situation, for example, National Journal reporter
David Herbert found that most of his sources "asked to remain anonymous because
they feared damaging their career prospects at the State Department down the
line". He also raised questions about possible discriminatory practices during
the applicant screening process.
Keep in mind that this situation came to light months after Clinton declared
that in order for the Obama administration to meet its ambitious goal of
doubling foreign assistance by 2015, "We need more people manning the decks."
And it may be just the tip of the iceberg.
Besides the procedures surrounding the issuance of clearances, other
security-related concerns stare Clinton in the face.
As pressure mounts on her to quickly deploy more civilians in Afghanistan, she
must also determine what is fact and what is fiction when it comes to the true
scope of Xe - formerly Blackwater - covert missions and activities with other
government agencies well outside the domain of State Department security
operations.
Whether or not Clinton believes that Xe suffers from an image problem, Xe
remains a vital player on the State Department's security team via a
multi-million dollar contract. But because so many in the Islamic world are
critical of Xe’s prior track record in Iraq, the State Department must figure
out how to cope with this widespread perception. Timing is everything, and
right now the State Department is keen to send the right message to millions of
people in the Islamic world as part of the reinvention of the department's
ambitious strategic communications campaign in the region.
The revelations surrounding Xe also serve as a reminder that maintaining
transparency is often a very delicate proposition indeed, and Clinton has
already been counseled about the need for her team to embrace greater
transparency for a number of reasons.
"Obama administration officials have been engaged in international talks on
enormous budgetary commitments that could go well beyond the $53.9 billion that
we are considering today," said the committee's ranking minority member,
Senator Richard Lugar, at the senate budget hearing. "The administration chose
not to include its $108 billion request for the International Monetary Fund as
part of the regular 2010 budget, [and although] the IMF [International Monetary
Fund] is essential to shoring up the international financial system, [this has]
encumbered the public transparency of the administration's proposal, which is
critical to building broad support for the US commitment to the IMF - not just
this week, but looking forward in the months and years to come."
This call for greater transparency is something that Clinton cannot overlook,
especially when many people are wondering about the roster of top players that
surround her. Very powerful personalities like special envoy Richard Holbrooke
and Robert Hormats, the State Department's new under secretary for economic,
energy and agricultural affairs, advise Clinton.
As expected, she will keep some State Department matters well out of sight. At
the same time, however, she cannot allow this to become the rule rather than
the exception, and she may find this hard to do.
She is getting high marks now, and that matters. Right after her first trip to
Asia in late February, for example, Victor Cha, director of Asian Studies at
Georgetown University wrote in The Chosun Ilbo, "Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton's first trip to Asia demonstrated well the Obama administration's
commitment to the region. Her stops in Japan, Indonesia, Korea and China
displayed her ability to handle a brief quite well. Her mastery of the material
was clear, and she demonstrated an understanding of the nuances in the region
like an experienced Asia hand."
In late August, however, warning lights began flashing. Last week, Senator Jim
Webb of Virginia, chairman of the East Asia and Pacific Affairs sub-committee
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told PBS Newshour viewers in the US
that,
"The most important thing, actually, right now is that we have an
opportunity here to try to construct a new formula, and it's vital for the
interests of the US in SE Asia that we re-engage across the SE Asian mainland,"
said Senator Webb, who is just back from his two-week, five-nation tour of
Southeast Asia. "We are in real danger of losing our position, with the
expansion of China, with this whole series of countries that I visited."
While Clinton already acknowledged that the US position regarding Myanmar was
not working, Webb, and his sub-committee, which includes Clinton's replacement
from New York State, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand - an Asian studies major in
college who is the only US senator proficient in Mandarin - is perhaps prodding
Clinton and the State Department to move more quickly on a number of important
matters related to all Southeast Asian nations and not just Myanmar.
Professor Peter Dutton of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval
War College testified at a hearing a few weeks ago entitled, "Maritime Disputes
and Sovereignty Issues in East Asia" which addressed, "current challenges of
the disputed territories in the region, including the Senkaku Islands, Spratly
Islands, and Paracel Islands". He stated that the US needs "to reassert our
position as the global advocate for access-oriented approaches to international
law of the sea".
"The federal government would benefit from a comprehensive national oceans
policy, and flowing from that policy, a comprehensive strategic communications
plan to explain the benefits and strengths of the American perspectives on the
oceans," said Dutton, who also pointed out, "Today, however, there is not even
complete unity of perspective across the various federal agencies that have a
hand in oceans policy."
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