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[webfact]

U.S. needs to balance foreign alliances - Tillerson

By Yeganeh Torbati

REUTERS

 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson waves after delivering remarks to the employees at the State Department in Washington, U.S., May 3, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday outlined for his staff how an "America First" agenda translates into foreign policy, but did not address the Trump administration's proposed budget cuts, which worry many diplomats.

 

It was the first time Tillerson had addressed all employees since his first day on the job on Feb. 2, when he spoke to hundreds of State Department officials in the building's lobby, and the most thorough explanation yet of the Trump administration's approach to foreign policy.

 

Some allies and even some U.S. officials have interpreted Republican President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda, which puts Americans' interests at home ahead of those of its partners overseas, as a threat to retreat from the world.

 

Tillerson said U.S. foreign policy priorities had gotten "a little bit out of balance" in the previous decades, with the United States too focused on promoting economic activity and trade with emerging economies.

 

"These are really important relationships to us, and they're really important alliances, but we've got to bring them back into balance," he said, speaking without notes and walking around the stage in a packed State Department auditorium.

 

He also signalled that the United States would de-emphasize human rights concerns in some of its interactions with other countries, saying that while U.S. values remain constant, its policies can adapt.

 

"If we condition too heavily that others must adopt this value that we've come to over a long history of our own, it really creates obstacles to our ability to advance our national security interests, our economic interests," Tillerson said.

 

TILLERSON'S WORLD TOUR

 

Tillerson gave a tour of U.S. priorities around the world, including in East Asia, Russia, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere, omitting Europe.

 

With regard to North Korea's nuclear program, Tillerson said the administration is willing to use so-called secondary sanctions to target foreign companies that continue to do business with Pyongyang in contravention of United Nations sanctions.

 

The pressure campaign on North Korea is "at about dial setting 5 or 6 right now," Tillerson said.

 

On China, Tillerson said the United States has a "tremendous opportunity" to define its relationship with the superpower for the next several decades, and that he sensed great interest by the Chinese leadership to do that as well.

 

He and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will chair a dialogue with their Chinese counterparts in June, in addition to a dialogue focused on economics and trade and led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

 

Tillerson said he had told Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow last month that U.S.-Russia relations were at their lowest point since the Cold War.

 

"He did not disagree," Tillerson said. "He shrugged his shoulders and nodded in agreement."

 

But in remarks lasting nearly 40 minutes, Tillerson did not address the administration's proposed 28 percent budget cut for U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid, which would reduce funding for the United Nations, climate change and cultural exchange programs. That proposal has made many American diplomats and aid workers anxious.

 

The Trump administration also has not named candidates for the vast majority of State Department positions requiring Senate confirmation, and many are being filled by career diplomats in "acting" positions. Tillerson began his remarks by thanking those officials, to applause from the crowd.

 

One veteran official who watched the speech criticized Tillerson's use of the "America First" slogan. The phrase was used in the 1930s by isolationists who sought to keep the United States out of World War Two.

 

"The fact that they still use 'America First' shows they know nothing about history, and what's worse is they don't care.

 

"It's offensive," said the official, who requested anonymity.

 

Tillerson's remarks followed an invitation to State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development employees this week to participate in an online survey to help identify "efficiency improvements," in line with a March directive from Trump to "reorganize governmental functions and eliminate unnecessary agencies." In his speech, the secretary urged employees to fill out the survey and give input on how to reform the agency.

 

Tillerson said the State Department, like many institutions, was built for the Cold War era.

 

He said he recognised that deep change to the State Department "is really stressful for a lot of people" and said the administration has "no preconceived notions on the outcome" of a review.

 

One State Department official faulted Tillerson for not talking in detail about the budget cuts, as well as for not taking questions from employees.

 

Previous secretaries of state, including Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton, held question-and-answer sessions with State Department employees within weeks of taking office.

 

"They wanted to make this look like he was talking to us, but it was more about the appearance than any substance," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

 

Two other State Department officials, however, spoke highly of Tillerson's remarks, saying it was early to expect him to take questions from the rank and file and saying he provided guidance both on foreign policy and on the challenge of reorganizing the department.

 

"I can understand folks wanting more details. I just don't think we are in a place where he can provide more details," said one of these officials about the expected State Department budget cuts. "My big takeaway was put on your big-girl britches, and when you look back you will feel like you were part of making this reform happen."

 

(Additonal reporting by Arshad Mohammad, Jonathan Landay and John Walcott; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-05-04

[Traveler19491]

This is where the U. S. is being "led"...straight into the gates of hell. Trump and the extreme right have succeeded in convincing the average, ill-informed, willfully ignorant, low education individual to "be afraid...be very afraid", and Tillerson's remarks are nothing more than a continuation of that mantra. Asserting that it is necessary to abandon American values in order to achieve our "security interests" is nothing less than walking away from 240+ years of history. Turn our backs on our values and we are no longer America. Trump's and Tillerson's (and every single one of their political supporters) goal is nothing less than turning this country into AmeriKKKa, Inc., pleased as punch to make one more buck off of your sweat, but screw you if you think for one minute that you are going to share in that. And especially not anyone who isn't white, male, christofascist, and already rich. Just what the hell do you think gives you the right to believe an assinine idea like that? We own you. We own your family. We own everything you thought was yours, everything you have ever had or ever will have.

These people are not Americans. They are citizens by birth or naturalization, but they are no more American than Putin, Duterte, Assad, or any other greedy, totalitarian, power-mad schmuck. I used to think that the idea that "he wants to destroy America" was just stupid hyperbole. No more. These people are intent on destroying the country for no other reason than to bleed it of its resources for their own benefit, and anything, any idea, any individual that they view as a legitimate threat they will have no problem crushing by whatever means necessary. Don't agree? Trump has stated that our system of government embedded in the Constitution is "archaic" and "very unfair" (http://www.politicususa.com/2017/04/29/frustrated-dictator-trump-archaic-constitution-bad-country.html). He wants people to believe he means unfair to the American people, but if you think that you would be wrong. He means that it prohibits him from doing whatever he damn well pleases. Now Tillerson is saying we need to abandon our values, the only things that set us apart and make us uniquely who we are.

And all of this is being done under the cloak of making us "safer". Bull. It is a thinly disguised grab for unlimited, unrestricted power. And they won't be happy until they've got it. Now, of that, you do need to be afraid. Be very afraid.

[mrwebb8825]

9 hours ago, Traveler19491 said:

Trump has stated that our system of government embedded in the Constitution is "archaic" and "very unfair"

It is archaic and unfair. It's archaic and unfair to demand farmers plow their fields with mules. It's archaic and unfair to demand 1,000s of US citizens  go out to fight and die because we don't like the way another country governs itself. That's the exact reason the UN was formed. The world has changed and evolved since the constitution was written. The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights and The Constitution were are written, NOT to tell the world how to live or act in their countries BUT to state the values and the way of life that America wanted to live by. These documents were written by people that were highly respected and well thought of but had absolutely NO idea what the world would look like in 300 years. Hell, their grandfathers still thought the world was flat. Now we know that isn't true and thinking changed. To date, Thirty-three amendments to the United States Constitution have been proposed by the United States Congress and sent to the states for ratification since the Constitution was put into operation on March 4, 1789. Twenty-seven of these, having been ratified by the requisite number of states, are part of the Constitution so obviously there is room for improvement as the world changes.

Everybody thought Columbus was the greatest explorer in the world and got full credit for discovering America. Now we know that the Chinese had been trading with what is now the west coast of America and the Vikings were trading and raiding what is now the northeast coast of Canada and America back as far as the 12th century.

Tillerson was simply saying that we need to change our archaic way of approaching foreign policy and stop trying to force US values down the throats of every other country in the world.

On 5/4/2017 at 9:14 AM, webfact said:

"The fact that they still use 'America First' shows they know nothing about history, and what's worse is they don't care.

 

"It's offensive," said the official, who requested anonymity.

This "anonymous" official should do a little research:  "Although the term “America First” has been resurrected in the 2016 presidential campaign, its historical origins have been buried under years of American politics and sketchy history. The America First movement has been described as isolationist, anti-interventionist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic, and a bunch of know-nothings. That narrative fails on several levels."

Quoted from: http://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/the-truth-about-the-america-first-movement

 

An interesting read.

[elgordo38]

Come on Rex quite yanking our chain. How can you speak to allies and friends when you have a boss whose head and thoughts swings about like a whirling dervish. He just peed off Canada a valuable ally in a very  discondisending manner similar to a brush off. 

[elgordo38]

Rex your balancing act is a complete and utter failure.