As readers here are aware, I have been talking about Secretary Clinton's Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) since she first announced the initiative 16 months ago in a dedicated town hall meeting at the State Department on July 10, 2009. This is a comprehensive review of all operations of bureaus and agencies within the State Department and USAID. As many will also have noticed, I tend to eschew articles about what the Secretary is doing and saying in favor of sharing the Secretary's own words and photos and videos of the events. Occasionally, when the information I seek is clearly available somewhere, but cannot be found at the State Department website, I do resort to reliable secondary sources. Such is the case this evening.Since the 8:00 a.m. breakfast with congressional leaders yesterday, word has been leaking out that at that event the Secretary discussed the QDDR in addition to the New Start treaty. Various publications have, as is always the case, addressed specific items within the review, but the review itself is not available via the State Department website. (Or if it is, it is impossible to find.)
A little while ago, friend sent me an article about yet another piece of the QDDR puzzle, this one from Stars and Stripes. I will not link to the article here since it exemplifies one of my pet peeves about articles, the header misleads by stating that the U.S. government is considering something that the QDDR is recommending. Experience has taught me that there can be great distance between what Secretary Clinton recommends and what the U.S. government considers doing.
What I did find near the header is a link to a "consultation draft" of the QDDR itself. It is nowhere to be found at the state.gov website, but since it is public, it is here for you to see. QDDR Consultation Draft pdf document.
I have skimmed through it. I will like it better when they clean up the parallel structure (or lack of same). I am sorry, but that just completely disrupts the flow of ideas. It is not that difficult to correct. I suppose I am a little sensitive since this is Hillary's baby. It should not read like an undergraduate term paper outline. It needs to be polished and pristine. It is her legacy.
I did find, at the State Department website, this citizen's Guide to Foreign Affairs which you might like.h/t to Sanders for sending me the article where I found the pdf.
