Segment for remarks from hillary clinton, discussing americas role in the world during a recorded Virtual Event hosted by the Atlantic Council. You are watching cspan. The first woman to be the president ial candidate of a major u. S. Political party. One of only three women who has served as secretary of state. She was first lady and has been a u. S. Senator. We are delighted that she is going to have another first with us as she will be the first speaker in our brandnew series, alexion 2020, americas role in the world. Part of the Atlantic Council frontpage series. Leaders, wef global have had heads of state from columbia, afghanistan, and london. We have had the. Ecretarygeneral of nato we are delighted to have former secretary of state, hillary clinton. We will feature the most prominent voices shaping the International Dialogue to explore u. S. Leadership and interests in the world alongside our friends and allies. Secretary clinton knows that this is a [indiscernible] and at the Atlantic Council we dont believe so much in that, we have a huge audience and you can all connect and comment on this event by using the council frontpage. With that, i want to turn to secretary clinton. Thank you so much for being with us to what being with us for this important series. Sec. Clinton thank you very much, fred. Fred its wonderful to see you, even though its against the screen and you are so somewhat distant from us here. This is an unusual year, the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic downturn since the great depression. The most significant racial upheaval in 50 years, and some are saying this may be the most important president ial election of our lifetimes. I wonder if you could speak first to that. You taught a class on history and have been a president ial candidate yourself. What are the stakes this year . I agree sec. Clinton with that assessment, fred. This is the most consequential president ial election in a long time and for all the reasons that you just pointed out. In addition to the challenges that we face both domestically and internationally in trying to strongeretter, approach towards the future, which i believe is at stake in this upcoming election. Very quickly, we have seen a herefailure of leadership at home and abroad by the current administration. A real disregard for institutions such as nato and institutions here at home. Undermining of the rule of law at home and the rulesbased global order abroad. We have seen a failure to respond effectively to the pandemic and, of course, there are many other challenges that have either been ignored or made and ain the last three half years. So, this is a moment of reckoning not only for the United States, but as you rightly point out, the International Community also has a lot at risk in the outcome of this next president ial election here. So, moment of reckoning. If you look at the challenges for the next president of the United States, they will be a norm us. Setting priorities is one of the hardest angst to do in leadership. Looking at the challenges you have outlined and problems we are facing internally, domestically, and in the world, if you are setting priorities, what are they one through five . Sec. Clinton its interesting, i have had this conversation with the Vice President s campaign and the transition effort thats underway. This is not an ordinary time. There will have to be a concerted effort to move on several fronts at once. It reminds me a little bit of obamahen president elect asked me to be secretary of state and he said, look, our economy is in a terrible great recession. Which of course it was back in 2008 and 2009. I have to deal with the economic crisis. But we also have problems around the world and have neglected our leadership and alliances in the prior eight years. Well, i think you just have to quadruple that to understand what president elect biden might be facing. So, i think there has to be a full court press, as we say, both on the economy, at home, dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic, because i dont think it will be over by the next inauguration, making sure that we have a strong response jobs, as wellng as health care. In our country, as you know, health care is often attached to employment. Something we are trying to change. Tohono oodom we will have to regain leadership and rebuild alliances and make it clear to here at home we will have to regain leadership and rebuild alliances, making it clear that the United States will be resuming a position of Global Leadership and bring people together around common threats, be it Climate Change or the Global Pandemic. Fred as i said earlier, you were the third woman to be secretary of state. Foreign policy doesnt usually play as big a role in president ial elections. I wonder what role you think it will play this year, if it will be any different because of the situation we are in. Well, i think it should and i hope it will. Challenges,ous internationally, and i think the press and public should be demanding answers from the thembent, donald trump, and challenger, joe biden. Inave a lot of confidence joe bidens experience on the international scene. I worked with him in the senate for eight years and in the obama cabinet for four. So, to just take a quick look at what we face, we face a Global Pandemic and we are going to eventually i hope, only after as is proven safe and effective, have a vaccine or more than one. Then we will have to figure out how working together in a cooperative way the world can distribute and deliver that vaccine globally so that we really do tame the virus. To have to deal with the continuing interference in our elections by Vladimir Putin and the kremlin. This is an ongoing threat to our own democracy, but to other democracies as well and it needs to be addressed firmly and finally rather than allowing it to fester. We know from recent intelligence reports that the russians are once again trying to favor and help elect donald trump. We need to have a stable, consistent policy towards china, the most consequential of our global relationships. I dont blame the chinese for filling the vacuum left by the incoherent and inco assistant inconsistent policies of the Trump Administration, but we cannot permit china to dominate the Pacific Region and beyond and try to substitute its own power and influence for a rulesbased global order. And there are many other issues, whether it be Climate Change or the renewed effort by iran to or theuclear weapon unchecked efforts by north korea and so much else that are going Pay Attention to. So, i hope that the Incoming Biden Administration will be prepared to move on a number of fronts, domestic and international simultaneously. Because the work that needs to be done is rather overwhelming. You, secretary clinton. You mentioned the biden harris ticket, so lets deal with a couple of issues that have been in the news of the last few days that have been of importance. As you said, Vice President biden has chosen Kamala Harris as his running running mate. These Vice President ial choices are sometimes written off as not being that important. Others are saying that it will be this time, for two reasons, many more as well, because she is a woman of color and vice , if running for a second term, would be 81 years old. How important is this Vice President ial pick, do you think . Fred i think it it sec. Clinton i think it is important and significant, i think. Having gone through this myself, you want to pick someone who you think can become president , if necessary, can be a good colleague that you can work with and give increasing responsibility to, and someone obviously who can help you win. The Vice President concluded that senator harris checks all those boxes. Her incredible energy, her , allience, her life story will be very compelling in the selection. Having both campaigned with her and for her, i have seen firsthand how thoughtful and focused she can be. So, i think it is an important and significant choice. I think the country will be in good hands with the biden Harris Administration. Now we have 80 days to try to make sure that we have a free and Fair Election without foreign interference so that the maximum number of eligible americans are able to vote and their votes will be counted and we are confident in the outcome of the election in november. History has shown that an International Event like covid19, you really have to go back to the spanish flu to think of something that consequential, can have a huge geopolitical implication. You have talked a bit about how we should respond to it. In a geopolitical sense, where do you see the opportunity that could be seized but also whats the danger . Could this accelerate history in a way that many have said would accelerate the relative decline of the United States . I think thats really up to the United States. Thats why this election is incredibly important in every way i can imagine. You are right, fred, about the history of pandemics. Whether it be the black plague in the middle ages or the socalled spanish flu 100 years ago. We have seen the failure of government to deal with the pandemic. That is a wakeup call for everyone, to understand that we need to both take a hard look at Public Health processes and institutions within countries, but also internationally. I thought it was a grave error for donald trump to attack the world health organization. To act as though he could pull the United States out of it. Something that is more complicated than he lets on. We should be buttressing the world health organization. We should be buttressing the Vaccine Institute institution that has been set up internationally. We should be having intense diplomatic conversations with health experts, logistics howrts, and others about what we are going to finally get to a safe and effective vaccine, or perhaps even more than one. And then manage the distribution of it so that we try to bring aroundld together defeating the pandemic. Not permit the vaccine nationalism that is taking ice right now. Reallythere is a lot of important work that needs to be done and the United States has to be in the middle of it. It cannot sit on the sidelines, being indifferent or even contemptuous of International Efforts and expect that we are going to benefit ourselves, as well as lead the world. The final point is, you know, we saw a virus jump from wuhan, china to the United States, europe, and now literally the entire globe. To think that we can shut ourselves off and pretend as though we can deal with it on our own is both scientifically and politically, and strategically, i would say, false. So, i would wish that rather than the behavior we are currently seeing from the Trump Administration, we would see a more thoughtful, smart, engaged, cooperative effort. Thats what its going to take. It took that to eliminate smallpox. We have been working for decades to illuminate measles and polio. It has to be a global effort and the United States must assume a leadership role politically and financially. More so, something a bit like 2008 and 2009 in this global crisis, when the g20 was created, there was a lot of u. S. Leadership and cooperation with others at that point. U. K. Relationship was important, amongst many others. I was going to say, i think that we are also going to have lingering financial ramifications from the pandemic. Very, obviously seeing you know, very slow economic activity. Some of the worst in the last 50 years in parts of europe. We know what the impact has been in the United States. We dont have good data from the rest of the world, but it has obviously had a global impact. I think there very well could be working inthe g20, conjunction with the u. N. , the are with gabi, others who Major Players in the Public Health arena to try to learn from the mistakes that were made. You know . Yes, i think its fair to say china was not as forthcoming or transparent as it needed to be in the beginning. We also had a unfortunate lack or evenration understanding in central ,ountries several countries including our own. The guidebook, the blueprint for dealing with Global Pandemic that the Obama Administration left for the Trump Administration was disregarded. Let us hope that individual nations will learn lessons. But let us also hope that collectively we can put together a more robust and Quick International response and to get every nation to buy into it. So that you dont have the role of any nation in the midst of a potential pandemic be to shut investigationde from international experts. We need to be more open and transparent. I fear, fred, that you know, this is not the last of the viruses the world will face. In fact, i think that there is a lot a very thoughtful analysis pointing towards this perhaps being the beginning of a continuing Public Health threat that we should be better prepared for internationally and we need to do that as quickly as possible. You, secretary clinton. China has come up several times in this conversation. It seems to be the sort of pure competitor of the sort that we have never experienced before. Across so many realms, economy, technology, military, etc. The Trump Administration has been quite outspoken, particularly in the last weeks. In the past they have said that the u. S. Has ignored china for too long and now we need to set up the next president of the United States, seems like we dont have a strategy. What could the strategy contain . Yeah sec. Clinton yeah. We have gone through a number of phases with china ever since the nixon opening to china. For a number of decades it was certainly in americas interests and the worlds interests, i would argue, to support china and in its economic rise, to work to include china in the in all kinds order of institutional ways. But i think any relationship has to be constantly reevaluated. As we have seen with xi jinping, a lot of the aggressive nature of the chinese ambitions now are very clear. Militarily, strategically, economically, internationally. So, you require a clear and consistent approach to china, which we have not seen under the Trump Administration. A series ofeen economic actions taken, not particularly effective, from what i have seen, and a lot of namecalling. In the meantime, china has extended its robe and belt program and increased its influence across not only asia, but into africa and of the south pacific. Even into europe. Certainly, latin america. China is not only Building Infrastructure nationally but through a competitive Infrastructure Bank it has set up. You see, with china they are playing the long game. As you say as i say, you cannot blame a country for acting in its own self interests. We can question ourselves at not being more effective in how we deal with chinas new, more aggressive, ambitious approach. I think it is important to isess that the United States an asian power. A pacific power. I had those conversations when i was secretary of state with my chinese counterpart that we will and intend to protect the South China Sea from colonization by Chinese Military interests. That we stand with our friends and allies in asia, east asia, south asia, in their efforts to protect their territorial integrity. That we should get back into the business of competing for hearts, minds, and infrastructure in different parts of the world. Because it does make a difference. We did a tremendous job under president george w. Bush in fighting the aids epidemic in billionspending many of dollars saving lives and providing treatment, while china was building soccer stadiums and parliament buildings. But we werent competing. We had a strong case to make that we were standing up for, you know, the human rights and the health care, the freedom of people in africa. Basically, with trump as president , we are absent. We are absent symbolically and we are absent substantively. I think there is a lot we can do to rebuild our presence. We also shouldnt shy away from continuing to speak out about human rights in china, about the uighurs, about the crackdown in hong kong. Theres a real audience in china and around the world for the u. S. Regaining his voice when it comes to human rights. So, theres a real opportunity think a bidenat i Harris Administration would quickly see to try to get our relationship with china back on a steadier, more predictable course. Reasserting american standing and leadership in asia and beyond. Secretary clinton, where does europe stand in this . Let me take it back to 2013. The Atlantic Council gave you the outstanding leadership award. To underscore bipartisan, nonpartisan credentials, you spoke about the centrality of the atlantic relationship in terms of energy, trade, and regarding russia. But now china is front and center. You said americas future is bound up in the future of europe. Does that remove the case now, are we just being nostalgic looking back at the relationship . What role do you think it has in this day and age . Sec. Clinton i dont think it isnt nostalgia at all. Realpolitik, to use a term associated with kissinger. One of the great advantages the United States has historically had, which we have unfortunately squandered in the last tree. 5 years, is our network of alliances. None has been more consequential and longlasting than the Atlantic Alliance. Thatieve strongly democracy is under attack around the world. Governance has not lived up to what people in democracies have every right to expect. We have a lot of work to do tohin the Atlantic Alliance rebuild the democratic tillers of our nations and our interrelationships. I still believe that there is an incredibly Important Role for nato. The aggressiveness of russia as we have seen it, georgia, ukraine, the kind of activity we russia,ng currently in the kind of threats that russia has posed to democracies from the baltics to the balkans, there is a great deal of work to do between europe, the United States, and canada in once again straight strengthening our Democratic Alliance and taking a hard look at where we have fallen short. Trying to support, as the eu is trying to do, democratization within countries. Which we have seen in hungary, turkey, and elsewhere. Even the nato members have been disappointing to say the least. Yes, the transAtlantic Alliance should remain at the core of Foreign Policy visions and objectives. I would hope that one of the first internationally that a new administration does is reaffirm the centrality of the Atlantic Alliance. A number of getting questions from twitter. Them circle around the issue of Civil Society and it taking a village. Particularly with black lives matter. Between Domestic Health and international policy, one of our predecessors as secretary of in,e, putting a letter saying that Racial Discrimination jeopardizes the in the free and democratic nations of the world. How do you view whats happening in Civil Society and how does that interact with our International Group . Fred sec. Clinton this is a moment of great moral reckoning over Structural Racism in the country and i am hopeful that real change will occur. The young people leading the black lives matter movement, other young people engaged in peaceful protests, they are certainly crying out for changes in many institutions with attitudes towards race and ethnicity and religion. And gender in america. It is a very serious internal threat to our way of life and our unity. Dean acheson said, all those years ago, it also impacts americas image and leadership abroad. The 2016 campaign, fred, one of the russian tactics that we learned about afterwards was to so racial discord. Events. E phony to have a heavy Online Presence that really stoked racial animosity and fear. The russians have been at that a very long time, as the recent excellent book by David Scheiber called rigged lays out. The russians under the soviet union and now the federation under poop have always tried to racial strife and inequities in the United States as a way of undermining our bakr c. Ons for the our values about moving towards a more perfect union. They have taken any opportunity paint ald to try to much darker picture of the United States. So, i think oath and first, most importantly, we have got to do better internally ourselves. There have been some important legislative changes in some states and cities and there is a good piece of legislation called the George Floyd Justin and in theg act that passed house of representatives on a bipartisan basis to try to deal first and foremost with injustice in policing and in the Law Enforcement community and in the criminal justice institutions. But we have got to go further than that and we have got to be , how webout the biases treat each other and whether or not we are willing to make room in more ways in society for more atple to have a real shot their own opportunity and Better Future for themselves. So, i hope that this moment is not lost and i hope that the kind of campaign that trump is now running, a very divisive one, is repudiated in our ,lection and that we can try to you know, heal the country by stepsly taking specific to remedy the lingering and sad injusticesly that we still live with. To let the moment get lost, heal the country, but understand that there are foreign actors trying to divide us, thats a good way to look at it. Fred right. Sec. Clinton right. Ind other questions coming about the middle east, in the news, the uae and israel are normalizing relations. Israel has agreed not to annex the west bank in what looked like a victory for the Trump Administration for the middle east. We still have other messes in the middle east. You have dealt a lot with that in your lifetime. How do you view this and in general, what role does the middle east play in another presidency . Is it a withdrawal from the region because it is not as important as it once was . Or is there another approach . Sec. Clinton with the middle east, we should be grateful for any potential breakthroughs. We have to see that it actually takes place in that israel backs to annexs intention the west bank. I hope that the normalization of relations with an arab goal power like the uae will bring some stability to the situation in the middle east. Still so many problems, i dont see how the United States can walk away. We have got not only the of israel challenges and the palestinians, the dilemma of trying to figure out how best to live together with a secure israel, with an autonomous palestinian entity of state. We have got the tragic situation greata, which has implications for continuing conflict. We have the collapse of lebanon. The tragedy of the explosion in beirut is beyond words. What happened there and the loss housing andso much business, but half, half of the health care facilities. The hospitals were wiped out. The pork was, you know, destroyed. Despairuch a sense of for the people of lebanon who have been so poorly governed over the last ears and who have of syria and its allies, the saudis and its allies. I hope that the world as president macron called out, will assist lebanon, but lebanon has to be governed better. You know, the sectarian governance that puts the interests of groups far, far ahead of the whole, had disastrous consequences. Challengesill have in egypt and libya. Iraq, syria, obviously. And we have a changing situation in iran. When we were talking about china of the more interesting and potentially challenging developments is that iran and china are entering into a military and economic agreement. That directly at the door of the Trump Administration. Pulling the United States out of the iran agreement that i began negotiations for as secretary of state and my successor, john , to put a lid on Iranian Nuclear weapons program. Any problems they have the Trump Administration could have sought to negotiate changes that they wished for. But instead, they pulled out, giving a green light to iran to pursue its Nuclear Weapons agenda. China is now cooperating with iran. Thed to persuade them at council to set the table for the negotiations. And of course, we know that if iran pursues Nuclear Weapons, the gulf states will likewise and i cannot imagine a morning situation then a Nuclear Arms Race in the persian gulf. So, there is an enormous amount at stake in the middle east and no responsible administration could ever walk away from that. I am so glad that you drilled down deeper on iran. A lot of our viewers have not paid as much attention to the chinese iranian relationship, which seems to be different and has changed. You go right back to jcpoa if a newly elected president biden, how would you manage that . Can you just pick things up, or has it been so altered that you need a different strategy . Thats a question to be answered, fred. I think would be in the u. S. Interests to rejoin the agreement. Just as it would be to rejoin the climate agreement. We are now not we are now the only nation not in the paris climate records. I think it is important for the United States to not only join the agreement, but to try to put the lid back on. The Iranian Nuclear weapons program, keeping it firmly on while preventing a nuclear arms mri with the saudis or the these, or the egyptians, or whoever else thinks that if iran has a Nuclear Weapons program, they should have 1, 2. The best way to do that is rejoin the agreement. At this point, i dont know if iran would be receptive to that. They may have moved on. Remember, there was always a conflict between the political and clerical leadership in iran. And obviously the military as to whether or not to put the lid on the program under the agreement. Again, i dont think we would know unless we resumed diplomacy. I dont think it is in the interests of iran to have continuing sanctions against it. Even with chinese support, its not economically enough, if the rest of the world renews pressure. It would have to be explored. I can only tell you that it was very important to try to get the world behind sanctions. In the george w. Bush administration we voted to sanction ron every way we could, but that was the United States alone. When i became secretary of state, we saw it together as essential to bring the world together, not just unilateral sanctions. And it was difficult, you know, a lot of countries have very big energy deals with iran. But we did it. Everybody on the same page. Its doable. Time has moved on, different relationships have developed, but you cant tell how far you can go unless you take that first step and i would urge a new administration to tackle that as among its many important challenges off the bat. Last question, and i will double on this one, a way of cheating on the last russian. This is such a rich conversation. You know from previous conversations that i love the question, what keeps you up at night. I want to get a feeling in general, in your lifetime, is there something uniquely fraught and dangerous . In all the things, iran, china, north korea, venezuela, what worries you the most . You cared so much about soft power. You were the secretary of state. Whats our status of soft power in the world and what role does it play in this dangerous landscape . Sec. Clinton you are right, that is a doublebarreled question. I worry a lot about the spread of Nuclear Weapons. Other dangerous weapons like biological and chemical weapons, worse, but i remain singularly focused on the spread of Nuclear Weapons. I would like to see her new love negotiation with russia. The new start treaty that my dear friend and a great patron of the Atlantic Council, tauscown sure ellen her, negotiated at the state department. It is set to expire. I would like to see it renewed. With theng dialogue russians over their Nuclear Weapons program, which appears to have moved into tactical nukes and other kinds of experimental weaponry. To see and or miss pressure put on china to join arms control discussions. I think that the Obama Administration in our first term for tried to set up a plate nuclear strategic summary. We had several meetings bringing withher the countries known Nuclear Weapons programs and those that have an interest in trying to control the spread of Nuclear Weapons. To be renewed and deepened. Not only a rogue nation like accident, the, the the takeover of a Nuclear Program in a country by extremists of whatever stripe they might be, or criminal elements, who are in the marketplace on a regular basis trying to buy or Sell Nuclear Material that could at least go into a dirty bomb. That would be my number one know, withu biological and chemical weaponry also needing to be paid attention to. As i said earlier, we also have to strengthen our international Public Health response. Potential pandemic, you have to take seriously the security implications of Climate Change. That was something i focused on in the senate in the Armed Services committee. Mass migration, increasing conflict over water and land because of Climate Change. We are ill prepared for that. The temperature in baghdad has broken all records. Underscoret really strongly enough how Climate Change is a security challenge that has to be addressed. Those are the areas i would pay immediate attention to. As for soft power, fred, i think we have squandered our soft power. I dont think that the United States has the influence that we in global debates or in how we are viewed. Particularly by young people around the world. I think we have to rebuild soft power. I like the phrase smart power, it combines the elements of the in defensenecessary with soft power that is viewed as part of development and diplomacy. Ourave got to smarten up Global Presence and once again try to influence people and events through the power of our example. As opposed to the example of our power. That is an old cliche, but it is an important one to keep in mind. We have to set the standard for a rulesbased global order and it is very much in americas that we and the world assume that leadership position again. Fred what a terrific close to this Opening Event of americas role in the world 2020. We must set the example for the rulesbased order and lead with our allies and friends, creating it in the first place. Secretary clinton, thank you so much for this and are mostly rich conversation. For viewersto now introduce the cochairs of the Atlantic Council 2020. By the way, thank you for missing ellen. We miss her so much. Sec. Clinton i know. Fred i would like to introduce our cochairs. We have the director of the california film commission. And we have the senior fellow of ,he future of diplomacy project former under secretary of state for Global Affairs and vice chair of the united council. They will provide some closing manatt remarks for this event. Over to you. Thank you, fred, and for secretary clinton for joining us today for this thoughtful presentation we are delighted to officially introduce election 2020, americas role in the world. A new Atlantic Council series, washington day. It will create a space for the often overlooked topic of Foreign Policy to be brought front and center to the u. S. Elections runup. Thats exactly right. We are kicking off with the big event, democratic and republican Republican National conventions. Whats in store . The council has curated an exciting series of bipartisan discussions covering both conventions on the most important Foreign Policy issues for the next administration. We truly have a terrific lineup of hers confirmed for the next few weeks and together our role is to explore key issues around americas role and its interest. What are the topics . Emerging technology and global economy. Colleen, thats not all. What more can our viewers expect . Thank you so much. The hearing continues into the fall with dedicated programming around the president ial and Vice President ial debates, wrapping up in november with a special session unpacking the results of the election. With this series we hope to provide a Nonpartisan Forum for informative and indepth conversations on Foreign Policy, National Security, and the u. S. Engagement around the world. Looking at the next four years, what are the challenges the United States will encounter and how best can we approach them . In a world facing unprecedented global challenges, what role will International Relations and alliances play . What opportunities will arise and beyond . How can we make sure that we are prepared to seize them . The times we are living through presentedormative and us with an unrivaled opportunity to shape the international , our visionith it for americas future. Its so true. Truly its a challenging time for all of us. Over the next few months, we will engage the most prominent the conversation on Foreign Policy. To address the questions you have raised and debate the american role and interests in. He world next monday, august 24th, 9 30 a. M. , we will have another special edition of front, featuring mike pompeo. Viewers can find the latest lineup of speakers. To sign up and read our analysis, you will find it interesting, on the Atlantic Council website, follow us on twitter and engage in this timely and important conversation. Once again, thank you so much, secretary clinton, for being with us today. And a a great discussion terrific way to launch the Atlantic Council elections 2020 series. We truly hope that all of you will join us for what will be a fascinating and lively set of discussions and debates significanthe most National Security issues cap 2020. Issues of 2020. Thank you to all of you for joining us. Stay tuned, our next Program Secretary ofy with state mike pompeo. See you soon. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] before the president left the white house earlier today, he made brief comments on the coronavirus pandemic about the Postal Service and the passing of his brother. [video clip] collects will be making a big journey today, stopping at s that in onete case had big
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