Tillerson and Lavrov are expected at this week’s meeting of Arctic Council at time of heightened tension
An icebreaker in Russia’s port of Dudinka earlier this month. Photo: LEV FEDOSEYEV/TASS/ZUMA PRESS
By Simon Nixon
Updated May 7, 2017
KITTILA, Finland—In normal times, a meeting of the Arctic Council wouldn’t usually attract much attention.
The
intergovernmental forum was established 20 years ago to enable the
eight countries with territory inside the Arctic Circle—the U.S.,
Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland—to discuss
how to protect the polar region’s unique environment.
But at a time of heightened geopolitical tension, this week’s meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska, carries extra significance. With U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov,
due to attend, the meeting that begins on Wednesday could have broader
strategic consequences—both for the Arctic and the world. Read more >>>>
Speech describes ‘obstacles’ to national security interests, but former official says it shows secretary of state is ‘clueless’
The US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson,
has said Donald Trump’s “America first” approach to the world means
decoupling US foreign policy from values such as human rights and
freedom. Addressing state department diplomats and staff,
Tillerson said there were times when insistence that foreign countries
abide by US values got in the way of the pursuit of national interests. Read more >>>>
There is probably no statement by a U.S. Secretary of State crazier than what Tillerson said.
It is hard to believe that this is the same State Department Hillary Clinton headed only four plus years ago. Unrecognizable!
Many
moons ago I said that Barack Obama should have had Lisa Murkowski over
for lunch to congratulate her on her write-in victory. He did not.
That was a stupid mistake. A political idiot would have known to do that. Right. That includes Trump. But Hillary would have.
Murkowski is a key figure in our Arctic interests.
I
wonder if she will be at Tillerson's side, as she was at Hillary's at
this next Arctic Council event. Or will they just be ramming through the ice
pack to free up the lanes and let Russia drill, baby, drill?
There is common ground. The melting ice caps are an issue. Protection of the ecosphere is an issue.
We are an Arctic nation. Our values should help form our policies.
Do you still wonder why Russia interfered with our election? Do you think it was for fun?
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
.
I loved Robert Frost. When I was a kid, he read a poem for JFK's inauguration, and I cried because the sun and wind kept giving him a hard time. He could not read well in the bright sunlight, and the wind kept ruffling the papers. I have always loved this poem.
Thursday, our Hillary made this appearance
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce dinner honoring Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's of China, in Washington. September 10, 2009.
Here is a picture of her with Chairman Wu.
Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's of China, greets U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she spoke at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce dinner honoring Wu in Washington September 10, 2009.
If I remember correctly, one of Sarah Palin's noticeable shortcomings in the General Election was her knowledge of Foreign Policy. But I see here her successor reaching out to a representative of a foreign power. These stopovers in Alaska on trips to and from Asia are routine. Did Sarah Palin ever avail herself of this unique geographical advantage her state held for her to gather some clout on the international stage? I simply do not know. Perhaps my new friend SJR at The Pink Flamingo, a Palin supporter, can shed a little light on this issue.
Here are her remarks at the dinner honoring chairman Wu.
Remarks
At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Dinner Honoring His Excellency Wu
Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress of the People's Republic of China
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Washington, DC
September 10, 2009
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Thank you very much. And it is a real pleasure to join you this evening
in welcoming Chairman Wu here to Washington. Mr. Chairman, I hope you
feel as welcome in our capital city as I did in Beijing earlier this
year on my first overseas trip as Secretary of State.
I want to
thank Tom and the Chamber and all of the sponsors for hosting this
dinner. The range of people and organizations represented here tonight
is a testament to the scope and scale of the relationship between China
and the United States and its enduring impact across industries,
institutions, and borders. We are joined by representatives of business
community, the non-profit world, cultural organizations, think tanks, as
well as the Congress and the Administration. And I’m delighted to be
here with my colleague, the Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke.
The
relationship between our two countries has the potential to chart a
brighter course, not just for our own nations and peoples, but indeed
for the entire world. We are two of the world’s three largest economies,
two of the world’s largest populations, two of the world’s largest
militaries, the world’s largest consumers of energy and producers of
carbon emissions. For these reasons and so many more, our respective
priorities and policies have a global impact, and therefore we have a
responsibility to ourselves and others to work as effectively as we can
to meet the threats and seize the opportunities of the 21st century.
As
Tom said, we have begun a groundbreaking Strategic and Economic
Dialogue between our two countries. This is an effort to seek new
avenues for collaboration, to find solutions together to common problems
we face. Secretary Geithner and I were honored to co-host the first
round here in Washington a little over a month ago, and the results
exceeded our expectations. This was the largest gathering ever of top
leaders from our two countries. Most of my colleagues in the Cabinet met
with their counterparts in the Chinese Government. We got to know each
other better through hours spent in consultation and negotiations. We
had very productive exchanges on issues ranging from the global economic
crisis to climate change to poverty and disease to the security threats
that confront us. And already, we are seeing the results of those
meetings.
President Obama and I believe we are entering a new era in
China-U.S. relations. Building a strong relationship with China is a
central goal of the Obama Administration and a personal priority of
mine. We embraced the idea of an expanded dialogue with China early in
the Administration because we wanted to build upon it as much as
possible in the months and years ahead, to yield the most meaningful
results and to build an even stronger foundation for future cooperation.
I am very pleased that President Obama will be visiting China in
November. We know that together we bear heavy responsibilities on our
shoulders. We have to work to forge a new global architecture of
cooperation. We have to deepen and broaden our partnership, mutual
respect and shared responsibility.
We believe that through more open
and honest discussion, we can strengthen not only our economic ties and
accelerate the global recovery, but we can do more to strengthen that
intangible of trust and of confidence that must exist between our two
great countries and their leaders. (Applause.)
There are so many
issues that we have to address. I just want to mention a couple. One is
climate change. When I was in Beijing last winter, I visited a
geothermal plant that brought together U.S. and Chinese businesses and
scientists in partnership to provide clean energy and green jobs. We
believe that this is the kind of investment and collaboration that is
good for China, it’s good for America, and it is good for our planet. So
we are cooperating more closely on other clean energy initiatives as
well, including the agreement you signed this week, Mr. Chairman, with
the Arizona company First Solar to develop the largest solar farm in the
world. In July, during our Strategic and Economic Dialogue, our nations
completed a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance our cooperation on
climate change, energy, and the environment. We believe that this is
essential to establishing a very positive tone leading in to the
Copenhagen conference in December.
We are also committed to working
with China and other partners to bring peace and stability to the
world’s hot spots. Our envoy to North Korea, Steven Bosworth, just
returned from China, where he met with Chinese leaders to work on
increasing stability in Northeast Asia by resuming the Six-Party Talks
and implementing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874. We
seek to work with China to urge Iran to live up to its international
obligations. And there are many other urgent global threats that demand
our joint attention, from nonproliferation to pandemic disease,
particularly the H1N1 virus, to reducing poverty – and I have said
publicly and privately about China and to Chinese leaders, we admire the
extraordinary progress that China has made in the last 30 years in
reducing poverty in China and giving tens of millions of Chinese people
the chance to have a better future. And I am pleased to announce that
the United States and China will be conducting joint talks on
counterterrorism this fall.
Now, we will not see eye-to-eye on every
issue. We have different histories, different experiences, different
perspectives. But we must seek to talk honestly and openly even when
agreement is not possible. And we are committed to doing so. In July, we
had a very full and frank discussion about human rights, and we agreed
to hold the next round of our Human Rights Dialogue before the end of
the year, and to reconvene the U.S.-China Legal Experts Dialogue. We
know that this is an important part of our engagement with China.
Now,
Chairman Wu is China’s chief lawmaker. I am a former lawmaker. We both
know that governments are essential to solving global problems. But
there is a limit to what governments can accomplish on their own. That’s
why we need partnerships beyond government that stretch across sectors,
that engage the full range of talent in our countries – from the
expertise of our scholars and scientists to the creative energy of our
young people and the adventurous spirit of our entrepreneurs.
Business
and industry will continue to play a critical role in building a
stronger U.S.-China relationship. Individual joint ventures, purchase
agreements, and two-way investments have increased bilateral trade by
more than 400 percent just in the past decade alone. And I could not
stand before any audience of this importance without mentioning the U.S.
pavilion at the Shanghai Expo. (Applause.) Now, some of you know that
this is a particular passion of mine, and it’s not only because I want
to go back to Shanghai to open it, but it’s because this pavilion will
showcase American innovation and culture to the more than 70 million
visitors that China expects to welcome to the Expo. I want to thank Tom
and the Chamber for the help that you have provided as we have raised
the money to have a first-class pavilion that will showcase our country.
It is not too late to contribute. (Laughter and applause.)
So we
will be moving forward with our partnership at all levels. But the most
telling measures of our progress may be less tangible than a geothermal
plant or even a pavilion. We are not merely looking to address current
concerns. We intend to lay the groundwork for a new pattern of
cooperation, a new forum for discussion, a new structure for engagement
that will allow us to work together far into the future.
This is an
issue that really goes to the heart of why any of us are here tonight.
Yes, those in business have to plan to be successful, to be profitable,
to make sure that the products stand the test of time. Those of in
government, we need to produce results for the people we represent.
Chairman Wu and I know that even though we have very different political
systems, at the end of the day, we are judged in the same way. Have we
made life better for the people that we represent and serve?
I like
to think, as I told State Councilor Dai during a wonderful dinner we had
at the very beginning of our Strategic and Economic Dialogue, that in
any important relationship, in any endeavor that holds promise for the
future, we should think about the children whom we love, our own
children, and in State Councilor Dai’s case, a very new grandchild, and
almost have the pictures of those children in front of us and ask
ourselves: Are we making the decisions that will give each of them a
better future, a more peaceful, prosperous, secure world, a world where
our children can breathe the air and drink the water, where they can
pursue their own futures if they are well educated and healthy, where
they have a chance to really make the most of their own lives?
That
is what is at the core of our relationship between China and the United
State – a hope and a commitment to that kind of future. Thank you all
very much, and thank you, Chairman Wu. (Applause.)
