Briefing 2.0 (12/10/2008): Answer to Jim

U.S. Department of State Spokesman Sean McCormack answers a question asked by Jim from Virginia during Briefing 2.0 December 10, 2008. Full transcript at: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/b20/113149.htm#jim

Category:

News & Politics

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• briefing
• 2.0
• foreign
• policy
• mccormack
• spokesman

[nprovenzo]

I'm glad that the State Department is offering this Q&A program and I hope that the next administration is wise enough to continue it. That said, I wish that State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack would have better articulated exactly what the US considers to be its interests. This is not a subject for vagaries, but a subject that demands an explicit statement of what are and are not considered to be American interests.

[Aurelia1985]

... Paramount to freedom, however, is not democracy. It's law, law protecting the right of a person to live, to think, to act, and to the product thereof. In short, freedom is a fantastic goal, but Democracy is not the answer.

~Amanda Carlson, Arizona

[Aurelia1985]

... In a society where individual rights and the rule of law aren't previously upheld, the Democratic method is a collective dictator with little difference to a single dictator. If America really wishes a prosperous and free world in which to trade and grow then we must first secure an iron-clad Republic which at its core respects and defends the sovereign rights of individuals. The Democratic method merely gives citizens the opportunity to make adjustments to fit changing situations ...

[Aurelia1985]

Thank you, I commend the State Dept. on their goal of effecting a more prosperous and civilized world by promoting free market systems. It does bother me however that people, including the State Dept. apparently, believe that a free economy and a just society are ensured by Democracy as such. They are not, nothing can be ensured by Democracy. It is the rule of the majority, which can become anything.

[jwoodswce]

cont...

Also, for a unofficial correct application of the principle of national interests, see Peter Schwartzs _The Foreign Policy of Self-Interest: A Moral Ideal for America_.

In general, I do extend my compliments to Assistant Secretary McCormack for accurately articulating an official State Dept. position on American national interests.

[jwoodswce]

Given brief comments, I will wait to post a response vid with extended positive and negative criticism of this statement.

In the interim, a more expansive official U.S. official statement on this issue is available in A National Security Strategy for a Global Age (Dec. 2000), produced by the Clinton White House. Google the title to find the test.

[WarVideo]

Im shocked

[nine9s]

The question was not answered.