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Clinton vows to seize 'new American moment'
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday touted her nation as a model to lead the world in the century, vowing the administration will seize what she calls "this new American moment."
With congressional elections looming at home and myriad challenges abroad, the chief US diplomat said in a speech to foreign policy experts in Washington that the rest of the world was counting on the United States to lead.
Clinton vowed to work with traditional European and other allies as well as new emerging powers like China, India and Brazil to resolve problems ranging from nuclear proliferation to climate change.
"Solving foreign-policy problems today requires us to think both regionally and globally, to see the intersections and connections linking nations and regions and interests, to bring people together as only America can," she said.
"I think the world is counting on us today, as it has in the past," Clinton said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a think tank.
She listed leading US roles in new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, efforts to curb Iran's and North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and contributions to international relief for flooded Pakistan.
Tough new sanctions against both Iran and North Korea were obtained with tireless diplomacy with US allies and partners, she recalled.
Clinton cited progress in Iraq following the declared end to the US combat mission there, more than seven years after the US-led invasion.
She also said Americans, despite the "difficult days" they were experiencing, have always "risen to the challenges we have faced," believing there are "no limits" to what can be achieved.
"And now, after years of war and uncertainty, people are wondering what the future holds at home and abroad. So let me say it clearly: the United States can, must and will lead in this new century," Clinton said.
"Indeed, the complexities and connections of today's world have yielded a new American moment, a moment when our global leadership is essential," she said.
She repeated that the United States is adopting news ways for leading the world as she touted US "smart power," how Washington applies development and diplomacy alongside defense to advance US interests and resolve world problems.
"The Obama administration views development as a strategic, economic, and moral imperative," she said, adding it is "as central to advancing American interests" as diplomacy and defense.
But President Barack Obama's administration will not shy away from using the military.
"This administration is also committed to maintaining the greatest military in the history of the world and, if needed, to vigorously defending our friends and ourselves," Clinton said.
Unlike the preceding administration of president George W. Bush, the Obama administration stressed the need to reinvigorate international institutions like the UN Security Council, and the G20.
She cited Washington's embrace of the diplomatic Quartet -- the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union -- for guiding the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Clinton called for a stronger European Union while also urging NATO members to share in the alliance's responsibilities, alluding to the need to support operations in Afghanistan.
Clinton said the United States would work more with "emerging centers of influence" like China and India, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, and Russia.
"Now, working with these emerging powers is not always smooth or easy. Disagreements are inevitable," Clinton said.
"But we know it will be difficult, if not impossible, to forge the kind of future that we expect in the 21st century without enhanced comprehensive cooperation," she said.
CFR analyst Stewart Patrick said Clinton's bold vision may collide with harsh realities.
It "remains unclear whether a diminished US superpower -- widely perceived to be in relative decline, its global brand tarnished, its fiscal situation perilous, its body politic internally divided and exhausted from two wars -- can still aspire to lead," Patrick said.
