Clinton Found a “Call” for Europe

Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recalled the multiple-year agreement with Moscow, criticized Ukraine and Belarus and reconfirmed her strong commitment to the European missile defense system.

During her speech regarding relations between the U.S. and European countries, the head of the State Department labeled Russia a “wake up call” for the U.S. and Europe to “work together.”

“We’ve made progress with Moscow on areas such as nuclear arms reduction, sanctions on Iran and trade, and we seek to expand our areas of cooperation. But the reality is that we have serious and continuing differences on Syria, missile defense, NATO enlargement, human rights, and other issues. It will be up to us and our European partners to continue looking for opportunities to engage with Russia and to make progress on the issues that matter to us,” announced Clinton.

One of these issues, without a doubt, is Washington’s plan to place dozens of rocket receptors in Eastern Europe. The head of the State Department ascertained that new missile defense technology would be able to defend potential goals in Europe and the U.S.

“We’ve already deployed critical radar in Turkey, and agreed to home-port Aegis missile defense cruisers in Spain,” Hillary Clinton said at the Brookings Institute. She added that “[i]n the coming years, new interceptor systems and their American operators will be deployed in Romania and Poland, enhancing our defensive capabilities for years to come.”

Considering disagreements with Russia, Hillary Clinton “went over” the situations in our neighboring countries. The U.S. Secretary of State feels that the October elections in Ukraine resulted in a “step backwards for democracy” and that those in power in Belarus continue to “systematically repress human rights.”

In order to correct the current human rights situation, Clinton called for an expansion of democracy and human rights to regions in Europe and Eurasia, where the conditions are “not yet where they need to be.”

It is commonly known that at the beginning of next year, the current director of the U.S. State Department will leave her post. According to Washington experts from the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, this explains why Clinton has taken such a hard public stance when dealing with Russia.

U.S. political pundits strongly predict that the former first lady will run for president in 2016.

While many feel that there is a great chance that Democratic Senator John Kerry will run the State Department in 2013, most likely the current U.S. Representative to NATO, Susan Rice, will assume that position.

The U.S. Representative to the U.N. strongly criticized Republicans on Capitol Hill for their negative commentary regarding the events that took place in Benghazi, in which four Americans died. However, criticism from Barack Obama’s political opponents may, paradoxically, play in Rice’s favor.

“The more Republicans criticize Susan Rice, the greater her chances are of becoming Secretary of State. For Barack Obama, John Kerry is necessary for that position in order to address pressing issues relating to foreign policy. Today, Rice is much closer to gaining that position than Kerry,”* reported Toby Gati, former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research and a consultant for Akin Gump law firm.

“Rice is only ready to fill the position of Secretary of State or of National Security Advisor. Other potential positions for her would be a demotion. Not long ago, she was considered too inexperienced to work as the Secretary of State. However, after the last four years of work as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations, that is no longer the case,”* said an American diplomat.

Undoubtedly, under Rice’s leadership of the American mission to the U.N., Washington has achieved a series of successes related to foreign policy. For example, the U.S. was able to gain the support of the international community, including Russia and Iraq, to impose tough international sanctions on Iran. Washington was also able to push a resolution on Libya through the U.N., which gave legal opportunity for Western countries to become involved in that country’s conflict and overthrow its leader, Gadhafi.

*Editor’s note: The original quotations, accurately translated, could not be verified.