Today our editorial team looks at responses from global media to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech yesterday at the Council on Foreign Relations. Below are six short excerpts from articles published around the world, three of which (French, Arabic, and Spanish) have been translated by our team.
Le Figaro, France: “Hillary Clinton raises the pressure on Tehran” by Florentin Collomp
“The American secretary of state warned Iran Wednesday that the “window of opportunity” for a dialogue with the United States ‘will not remain open indefinitely.'”
Last week, Barack Obama gave Iran to the month of September, until the next General Assembly of the United Nations, to accept nuclear talks. The West believes that Iran is looking to gain time to advance its work on a nuclear bomb.
‘We will not hesitate to defend ourselves.’
After the repression of post-electoral demonstrations, ‘deplorable and unacceptable,’ according to Clinton, the Obama Administration maintained its appeal for a dialogue. The Secretary of State criticized those who believed that its actions remained until now a dead letter, labeled by some in the United States as ‘weakness’ or ‘naivete,’ and perceived as a ‘type of acquiescence to repression’. But she underlined that the demand for isolation by the Bush Administration also did not put the brakes on Iran’s march toward nuclear arms.”
Florentin Collomp is Le Figaro’s special envoy to New York
For original article: http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2009/07/16/01003-20090716ARTFIG00237-hillary-clinton-fait-monter-la-pression-sur-teheran-.php
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Al Watan, Syria: “Israeli soldiers admit using Palestinians as human shields; Clinton calls upon Arabs to normalize relations with Israel for free.”
“…And even while war crimes are detected at the hands of Israelis themselves, Clinton called on Arabs yesterday to present concessions to the Israelis without charge, and Agence France Presse quoted Clinton as saying during her speech in front of the Council on Foreign Relations, a research center in Washington, that ‘the Arab states have a responsibility to take steps to improve relations with Israel and to prepare their publics to embrace peace and accept Israel’s place in the region.'”
“And she added, ‘We request from [the Arab nations] to accept our proposal and take concrete measures now.’ But Clinton did not talk about any Israeli responsibly towards the success of the peace process and she did not touch on any measures Israel should take to achieve a comprehensive and just peace in the region.”
“What Clinton went towards [in her speech] conflicts with the positions of American president Barack Obama, who considered the cessation of settlements in occupied Palestinian lands the basis for the success of peace negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and that position is an answer for Arab and Palestinian demands on that issue.”
For complete English translation: https://worldpolicy.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/July%2016%20Al%20Watan%20Clinton%20CFR.doc
For original article: http://alwatan.sy/dindex.php?idn=61262
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Asia Times, Thailand: Clinton sends warning to Iran by Jim Lobe
“…Washington is reinvigorating ‘bedrock alliances,’ especially in Europe and Asia, while putting ‘special emphasis on encouraging major and emerging global powers – China, India, Russia and Brazil, as well as Turkey, Indonesia and South Africa – to be full partners in tackling the global agenda.’
A necessary aspect of this approach will be to transform and reform, where necessary, global and regional institutions to ensure their ‘legitimacy and representativeness, and the ability of their members to act swiftly and responsibly when problems arise.’
At the same time, she said, Washington will be ‘more flexible and pragmatic’ in dealing with its partners. ‘So we will not tell our partners to take it or leave it, nor will we insist that they’re either with us or against us. In today’s world, that’s global malpractice,’ she said in one of a number of implicit rebukes of the administration of former president George W Bush. ”
Jim Lobe is a reporter who also runs a blog at http://www.ips.org/blog/jimlobe/.
For original article: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KG17Ak02.html
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Haaretz, Israel: Clinton warns Iran: U.S. will protect its friends by Shlomo Shamir
“…Clinton did not set a deadline, but President Barack Obama said last week that the U.S. wants to see a positive response by the fall or it will press for additional bilateral and United Nations sanctions.
Clinton set Iran’s leaders an unequivocal ultimatum: ‘… to join the international community as a responsible member or to continue down a path to further isolation.’
In the speech, which marked her return to a full public schedule after having been sidelined with an elbow injury for the last month, Clinton defended the administration’s outreach to Iran and other past adversaries, such as Syria.”
Shlomo Shamir is a Haaretz correspondent.
For original article: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1100587.html
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The Washington Post, United States: Clinton: U.S. urges ‘Multi-Partner World‘ by Glenn Kessler
“…Clinton reached little new ground on various policies, such as Iran and the Middle East peace process, but instead devoted substantial attention to explaining how she is going to take various goals set by the president, such as eliminating nuclear weapons and combating climate change, and seek to deliver results by reaching out beyond governments to private groups and individuals. In many ways, the speech was a rebuttal to calls from some foreign policy experts that the United States lead a group of great powers to manage the world.
She also pledged her ‘personal commitment’ to building closer ties with what she described as ‘major and emerging global powers’: China, India, Russia, Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia and South Africa.
Clinton’s language stood in contrast to the oft-quoted remark of the last secretary of state in President Bill Clinton’s administration, Madeleine Albright, who dubbed the United States ‘the indispensable nation,’ and also the unilateral tendencies of the first administration of President George W. Bush. But Hillary Clinton’s speech also built on themes advanced by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2006 and 2008, when she called for ‘transformational diplomacy.'”
Glenn Kessler is a Washington Post staff writer.
For original article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/07/15/ST2009071503854.html
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La Razon, Spain: Hillary regains prominence and launches an ultimatum against Iran by Marta Torres
“U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, used the podium of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington to return to reclaim her role as head of diplomacy in the international arena…
Just yesterday at Guantanamo, the postponement was accepted in legal proceedings of three prisoners held for years at the naval base to allow more time to military prosecutors to seek more evidence against them. In this way, Hillary Clinton chose to deliver this speech on the eve before his visit to India and Thailand. In her address she regretted the controversy surrounding the elections in Iran, while Obama said that the Administration wants talks on its nuclear program.
‘We understand the importance of engaging with Iran. We offer the leaders a clear opportunity to join the international community as a responsible member,’ Clinton said, although it is no secret that neither she nor President Obama have illusions that the dialogue has the expected outcome in Washington. She even warned: ‘contacts will continue, but time for action is now. The opportunity will not remain open indefinitely.’ Even so, the head of diplomacy said that the United States’ direct talks ‘are the best vehicle to present and explain our options.'”
Marta Torres is a special envoy for La Razon.
For original article: http://www.larazon.es/noticia/hillary-recupera-el-protagonismo-y-lanza-un-ultimatum-contra-iran
