Vision
Under the leadership of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Department of State has entered into new Era of Partnerships in American foreign policy, with a more comprehensive approach to diplomacy, development, and defense – the 3Ds of smart power. Through the Global Partnership Initiative, the Department of State is developing a vital component of smart power: the strategic partnerships with private businesses, philanthropies, universities, faith communities, Diaspora groups, and individuals who today find themselves empowered like never before. In the following statements, Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, her Special Representative for Global Partnerships, define their vision for global partnerships.
Statements from Secretary Clinton's Confirmation Hearing on January 13, 2009:
"Diplomacy is primarily a government mission. But there are lots of ways that nongovernment actors, like corporations, like religious organizations, like charities and foundations, are actually building relationships with foreign governments and foreign people all the time, which, if done in the right way, are really value added to who we are as a nation and what we can achieve.”
“The State Department will be firing on all cylinders to provide forward-thinking, sustained diplomacy in every part of the world, applying pressure wherever it may be needed, but also looking for opportunities, exerting leverage, cooperating with our military and other agencies of government, partnering with nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and international organizations, using modern technologies for public outreach, empowering negotiators who can protect our interests while understanding those of our negotiating partners. Diplomacy is hard work. But when we work hard, diplomacy can work, not just to defuse tensions, but to achieve results that advance our security interests and values.”
"I want more partnerships....I don't think there's any substitute for having seasoned, experienced professionals and experts leading our efforts on diplomacy and development and working, where possible, in partnership and coordination with the private sector and the not-for profit sector."
"Right now in Rwanda, a number of foundations, a number of churches, a number of private sector actors are all working to try to build that country back up. So I would hope that when we look at the State Department, we think of the role of foreign policy, diplomacy, and development as involving not just those who are the Foreign Service officers and the Civil Service professionals and the development experts, but really it's all hands on deck. We have a lot of work to, in my view, kind of repair damage and get out there and present America as we know we are."
"I think it's a real opportunity for us if we can figure how best to better coordinate and facilitate the private sector and the not-for-profit and religious community of the United States on behalf of humanitarian and commercial efforts."
Statements by Secretary Clinton at the Global Philanthropy Forum on April 22, 2009:
“I’m determined that diplomacy and development will eventually be considered on the same par, as equal partners with defense, because I know what a difference this work can make. And it’s absolutely essential that we recognize our interconnectedness as we grapple with the difficult challenges sweeping the planet. I know that we’ve only been in office for a little shy of a hundred days. But I’m even more convinced now than I was when I became Secretary of State that the problems we face today will not be solved by governments alone. It will be in partnerships – partnerships with philanthropy, with global business, partnerships with civil society. We have to find new ways to fill that space that is unfortunately left to create vacuums in too many places around the world.”
“By combining our strengths, governments and philanthropies can more than double our impact. And the multiplier effect continues if we add businesses, NGOs, universities, unions, faith communities, and individuals. That’s the power of partnership at its best – allowing us to achieve so much more together than we could apart. So in that spirit, I’m here today to announce that the State Department is opening its doors to a new generation of public-private partnerships. We will expand current partnerships and embark on new ones. We’ll embrace collaboration and become more receptive to the ideas and approaches that you will bring to us. And we want to deploy the full range of tools available, which is the heart of what I call smart power.”
“Effective partnerships will take time to develop. And there will certainly be occasions when the State Department will have to choose to go it alone, as you will as well. But in the Obama Administration, we seek collaboration whenever possible, and I’m going to push for the State Department and USAID to devise an improved system for developing and sustaining these partnerships that we think can be so value-added.”
“Some of you have said you hope that the State Department’s doors are open again. They are wide open. We just need you to walk through with your ideas, your energy, your commitment, and to put to work all that you bring with so many others who share our concerns about the challenges we face, but our absolute conviction that we’re up to meeting all of them …Let’s have an honest conversation about what works and what doesn’t. Let’s clear a lot of the dead wood away and streamline the processes. Let’s figure out how we can make our programs at the federal government level more effective. Let’s use you and your assets as force multipliers of what we are attempting to accomplish, and let’s make sure that we not only open the doors of the State Department, but we let people know that America is back, that we care about what goes on in the rest of the world, and we are leading with our values and our ideals, which has always been the best way for America to lead.”
Statements from Secretary Clinton's NYU Commencement Address May 13, 2009:
“So our positive interdependence, which is a fact, will prepare us to meet these challenges. But they can no longer be seen just as government-to-government. There is a time and an opportunity, and with the new technologies available, for us to be citizen diplomats, citizen activists, to solve problems one by one that will give in to hard work, patience, and persistence, and will then aggregate to the solutions we seek. Now, I know we cannot send a special envoy to negotiate with a pandemic, or call a summit with carbon dioxide, or sever relations with the global financial crisis. To confront these threats and to seize the opportunities that they also present, we need to build new partnerships from the bottom up, and to use every tool at our disposal. That is the heart of smart power. But smart power requires smart people, people who have gone the distance for their education, who have opened themselves up to this increasingly complex and interconnected world, and this changing global landscape requires us to expand our concept of diplomacy.”
“I hope many of you will join our ranks in the Foreign Service and the Civil Service, but I know that not all will choose to become professional diplomats, and I also know that the State Department alone cannot tackle these great problems. So my message to you today is this: Be the special envoys of your ideals; use the communication tools at your disposal to advance the interests of our nation and humanity everywhere; be citizen ambassadors using your personal and professional lives to forge global partnerships, build on a common commitment to solving our planet’s common problems. By creating your own networks, you can extend the power of governments to meet the needs of this and future generations. You can help lay the groundwork for the kind of global cooperation that is essential if we wish, in our time, to end hunger and defeat disease, to combat climate change, and to give every child the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential.”
“In the times that we face, we know we don’t have a person to waste, we don’t have an idea to overlook. In fact, we have to be even more committed to reaching out and crossing the divides that too often separate us. For those who have come to this country to celebrate a child or a friend’s graduation, please take home this message: America more than ever wants your help; in fact, needs your help as we build these new partnerships and as we seek solutions to the global crises that cannot be solved by any one people or one government alone.”
Statements by Special Representative for Global Partnerships Elizabeth Bagley at the TED@State Talks on June 3, 2009:
“In this hallowed place, we truly are breaking new ground for all of us, for each of our organizations, to begin to build a better world together, starting in this great creative forum of ideas that TED has helped to bring into being. In this spirit, I would like to specially thank the Curator of TED, Chris Anderson, and as I have mentioned to him throughout our preparations over recent weeks, I hope that this will be the start of a beautiful relationship with TED that will bring together the best and the brightest to find creative solutions to our most intransigent problems.”
“I want all of you in attendance today to know that this was the moment in history when it could be said, definitively, that the State Department changed the way we do business and opened our doors to a new era of partnerships, collaboration, and innovation. And through these partnerships, we all came together to integrate development, diplomacy, and defense – the three Ds – in order to serve our mission of representing America’s very best to the world.”
“We must reach out our hand to others – reaching out to those less fortunate by giving them a hand up, through a more coordinated approach to development; reaching out to others to greet them through a more strategic and holistic approach to diplomacy; and reaching out, when necessary, to stop those few extremists who wish to destroy our very world. And when I say that “we” must reach out, I am not referring to the US government alone. I mean all of us in this room. We are all in this together. Our success in these endeavors is shared. So, too, must our work be more collaborative, our plans more coordinated, and our partnerships more strategic.”
“I firmly believe that our shared, global challenges can only be met through a comprehensive response rooted in partnerships, innovation, and collaboration. And that is why there is no better forum for the inaugural event of the Secretary’s Global Partnership Initiative than the TED Talks.”
“Our life’s work is before us, and I sincerely believe that we find ourselves today on the threshold of a new and truly memorable era, an Era of Partnerships. Let us begin with these new ideas for a better world that will both humble us and inspire us, and make us even more passionately committed to the challenges before us.”
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