HILLARY S RECORD OF LEADERHIP As Secretary of State, Senator, and First Lady, Hillary Clinton has always worked to counter threats to the United States, strengthen and build partnerships across the globe, seize opportunities to shape the future, and stand up for our values. As Secretary of State, she fought to restore our global leadership after eight years of damaging Republican foreign policy. Recognizing that the world was changing, she created new tools and forged new partnerships to position America to innovate, lead and succeed in the 21 st century. She implemented strong and smart strategies to make America safer and to shape events abroad at a time of change demonstrating that, for all the challenges we face, our prospects as a nation and our capacity to lead globally remain unmatched. She has a long list of accomplishments, but to name 3 She built the toughest sanctions regime in history on Iran, twisting arms in China, Russia, and dozens of other countries, to force Iran to the negotiating table. And when pressure started working, she sent her closest aides to explore a deal that would cut off Iran s path to a nuclear weapon. She personally negotiated an end to Hamas rockets raining down on Israel in 2012 and worked to build stronger defense programs for Israel, including upgrading the Iron Dome rocket defense system, which has saved the lives of so many Israelis. She fought to make women's rights a priority in international relations. She stood up against sex trafficking of women and children, intervened in Saudi Arabia to prevent child marriage, and led the fight for a UN Security Council resolution to combat sexual violence against women and children around the world that passed unanimously. And 3 more. She oversaw negotiation and worked to ensure ratification of the New START treaty, which will make the world safer by reducing U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals to their smallest size in 50 years. She helped build the unprecedented global effort to combat climate change, joining with President Obama to stand up to the Chinese in Copenhagen and get them to take responsibility for the first time, resulting in last year s major climate agreement. She stood up to Russia, China, and Iran on internet freedom and fought for the freedom to connect around the world.
And don t forget She worked to counter threats and meet challenges: When she took over, our foreign policy was directed at fighting two wars. She led a major strategic move, the pivot, to position us to lead in Asia and shape the rise of China, insisting that it play by the rules while enlisting its cooperation on our global priorities. She advocated that the President launch the raid against bin Laden one piece of a broad counterterrorism strategy that focused on bad actors while staying true to our values and empowering moderate Muslims to take on extremism. And she launched a multilateral counterrorism forum to bring together key counties to partner against this global scourge. From her time serving on the Armed Services Committee, and the work she did as the Senator from New York after 9/11, she has long experience advancing policies to strengthen our military, counter terrorist and other threats, and support our veterans and first responders. She strengthened old partnerships and built new ones: She repaired our alliances in Asia and Europe and made them stronger and more durable while upgrading and modernizing them for the 21 st century. In 2008, most of our allies were less supportive of our leadership than they had been in decades. As America s top diplomat, she made it her mission to reverse that. And she succeeded. She put the United States at the table of multilateral institutions like the East Asia Summit and the Arctic Council to ensure that we played a role in solving regional and global challenges alongside our partners. Her diplomacy allowed us to spur our partners to stand up to Chinese bullying in the South China Sea in Hanoi in 2010. She recognized the critical importance of emerging powers, supporting the G-20 as the preeminent forum for global economic dialogue to bring new voices in to critical global problem-solving and launching new Strategic Dialogues with key countries that produced results for the American people She positioned us to shape change and win the long game: She put economics and energy at the heart of the State Department agenda. Her jobs diplomacy efforts contributed to a 50% increase in our exports to China. And she worked to get Europe off of its dependence on Russian oil we re seeing the payoff now. She advocated for a transformation of a long-failed Cuba policy in favor of a new approach that would more effectively support change in Cuba and strengthen our partnerships in the rest of Latin America.
She updated the United States foreign-policy toolkit, integrating our diplomacy, development, and defense strategies and deploying smart power in the service of our national-security goals. She modernized our development and assistance programs and developed innovative programs that significantly expanded the number of people getting HIV medications from the United States She fought for and mobilized our values: She made empowering women central to American foreign policy for the first time, believing that it is key to development abroad and our security and economic growth at home and rejecting the idea that standing up for women around the world doesn t count as real foreign policy. She stood up to China on human rights, bringing a blind Chinese human rights lawyer who had been persecuted by China in to our Embassy, and then to the United States. She championed the rights of LGBT people as Secretary, including lobbying intensively for the first ever U.N. Human Rights Council resolution on LGBT human rights. As First Lady, she broke new ground for global women s rights, declaring in Beijing in 1995 that Women s rights are human rights, and human rights are women s rights.
SMART POWER: HILLARY S VISION OF 21 st CENTURY AMERICAN LEADERSHIP Hillary Clinton believes that confident, principled American leadership serves America s interests and is a force for peace and prosperity across the world. And she believes our national assets and current strengths give us the opportunity to sustain that leadership for decades in to the future. Contrary to the doomsday scenarios painted by the Republicans, she believes we are positioned for a new American moment. She also believe that this is not a foregone conclusion it will take strength, smarts, and vision. Her view is that the basic thrust of American foreign policy should be to expand the circle of nations that share our values and cooperate on common interests, and shrink the space for our adversaries to operate and to challenge the U.S. and our allies. It starts here at home, by investing in the sources of our national strength. It rests on strengthening the alliances and partnerships form the foundation for our prosperity and global stability. And it requires standing up to our enemies and adversaries to ensure that we are shaping the future not them. All of this calls for using smart power deploying all the tools of American power, from traditional tools of diplomacy and defense and development, to new and innovative tools too often discounted by others, like technology, public-private partnerships, economics and energy, and people-to-people engagement. And it calls for expanding the global agenda to include issues critical to spreading prosperity and opportunity issues like women s rights, LGBT equality, human slavery, internet freedom, and the plight of refugees. Today s changing world brings new risks and new challenges, but it brings even more opportunities if we seize them with creative, confident, and strong leadership. Hillary Clinton will exercise that leadership by: Marshalling America s strengths and deploying them judiciously to protect ourselves and our friends while building a more hopeful future. Hillary would: Make sure our military is on the cutting edge, with the best-trained, best-equipped, and strongest military the world has ever known made for the threats of the future, not the profits of defense contractors. Never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon by vigorously enforcing the nuclear deal and implementing a broader strategy to confront Iran s bad behavior in the region. Defeat ISIS and counter violent extremism by confronting and eliminating ISIS in a way that builds greater stability across the region, without miring our troops in another misguided ground war, and empowering our partners to defeat terrorism and the ideologies that drive it. Hold China accountable by working with friends and allies to promote strong rules of the road and institutions in Asia, and imposing consequences if China does not act responsibly including on cyberspace, human rights, trade, territorial disputes, and climate change. Stand up to Putin by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with NATO and our European allies to confine, contain, and deter Russian aggressions in Europe and beyond, and increasing the costs to Putin for his actions.
Strengthening old partnerships and building new ones, as American leadership is indispensable, but we are strongest and most effective when others join us. Hillary would: Strengthen alliances which are a unique source of America s strength, particularly our close friend Israel and our stalwart trans-atlantic and trans-pacific allies. Create partnerships for tomorrow by investing in partnerships in Latin America, Africa, and Asia with people and nations who share our values and vision. Engage civil society to resolve conflicts and nurture new democracies, empower moderates and marginalize extremists, and open markets and champion human rights. Leading for the future by breaking free of failed policies of the past and moving beyond wishful thinking to employ smart, pragmatic solutions to seize opportunities. Hillary would: Address climate change not just as a moral and economic issue, but as a defining national security challenge of our time, and taking domestic action and leading globally to safeguard our country from rising sea levels and extreme weather. Tackle cyber attacks, which have profound consequences for our economy and our national security, by leveraging the work of the public and private sectors overcoming the mistrust that impedes cooperation today to strengthen security and build resiliency for economy and infrastructure. Confront the threat of highly contagious diseases by remaining vigilant and doing more to prevent and contain outbreaks. Ensure that the United States has the personnel and tools necessary to work in a changing world, adapting our development strategies to lift as many people as possible out of poverty but also to build the security and institutions they need. Standing for our values, which are a key element of our power as a way of enhancing our interests over the long term. Hillary would: Stand for human rights worldwide as a core element of who we are, for more inclusive societies that empower their people are safer, more stable, and more prosperous. Empower women and girls around the world, because in communities where women thrive, societies thrive. Promoting gender equality around the world will promote a more just, secure, and prosperous global community. Ensure the Internet remains a platform for growth and free exchange, as the spread of information networks is forming a new nervous system for our planet. We need to stand for a single internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas. No country comes close to matching our advantages today: economic recovery, demography, innovation, geography, energy resources, alliances and partnerships that include well more than half of the globe s economic and military power, the continuing strength of our soft power and appeal of our values. No other power certainly not Russia or China has anything like them. If we take the steps necessary to sustain these advantages by investing in our people, infrastructure, and technological edge and exercise our power wisely, we will remain the world s leading, most admired, and most powerful nation and will lead the world in seizing the opportunities of the 21 st century.
THE CHOICE IN THIS ELECTION We are at a moment of opportunity: to shape a changing world that will reflect our principles and values, deliver broad prosperity and opportunity, and extend our leadership and security for decades. No one should doubt the seriousness of today s challenges or the need to meet them with assurance and strength. But when the Republicans spread fear and doubts about America s greatness today or our staying power, they are not showing leadership they are showing weakness. They would squander the opportunities of today by retreating and building physical and metaphorical walls that hinder change. Or they would squander them by confronting first and thinking later, alienating our allies and partners and failing to leader in a changing world. And so Americans face a clear choice in this election - do we want someone who will take us back to failed policies of the past, and use our military as a first resort, as many GOP candidates would? Or do we want someone with a vision for American leadership in the 21 st century, with the wisdom to effectively exercise American power while ensuring we remain safe, competitive, and innovative in this changing world? On every measure, the policies Hillary s opponents are proposing ideas would take us backward and weaken our position as a global leader. These ideas not only would be damaging, they would be dangerous. Other have tough talk and bellicose rhetoric, with no experience or plan to back it up, and question the patriotism of those who disagree. o Hillary believes grandstanding, fear-mongering, and empty bluster get us into trouble and make us less safe, and that now is not the time for an inexperienced leader. She believes denigrating the patriotism or loyalty of those who disagree with us, and undermining America s credibility abroad through bellicose statements, only makes us weaker. And she believes we are stronger overseas when we are united at home. Others would use military force as a first resort, putting U.S. boots on the ground and in harm s way in Iraq and Syria, and would abandon the Iran nuclear deal with no alternative. o Hillary will maintain a cutting-edge military, prepared to meet the threats of today and the challenges of tomorrow, but will exercise that power smartly, using all the tools of our strength so that we only put Americans in harm s way when necessary. And she would vigorously enforce the Iran nuclear agreement and make it one part of a broader strategy to counter Iran s bad behavior in the region. Others would shrink from global challenges and put our heads in the sand. o Hillary believes we cannot stop the world from changing nor should we want to but we should we exercise creative and confident leadership that enables us to shape global events rather than be shaped by them. And that means leading with strength, smarts, and an unyielding commitment to our values.
Others would go-it-alone, rather than building coalitions with our partners. o Hillary believes American leadership is indispensable, but that we are strongest and most effective when others join us. She has done the hard work of repairing frayed alliances after the failed with-us-or-against-us approach of the Bush Administration, and knows we have made too much progress to go back. Hillary she recognizes that global cooperation is necessary to solve some of our foremost challenges, from terrorism and disease to those like climate change. Others would return to failed policies of the past, such as the Cuban embargo or even the use of torture. o Hillary believes we need to meet today s challenges with fresh ideas, while preparing for both the opportunities and threats of tomorrow. We need a foreign policy for the future with creative, confident leadership that harnesses all of America s strength, smarts, and values. We want our grandchildren to have opportunities we could not even dream of today, just as our grandparents could not have dreamed of the Internet when they were young. We cannot afford to let out-of-touch, out-of-date ideas rip away all the progress we ve made. We have paid too high a price in lives, power, and prestige to make the same mistakes. Others prefer to remain blind to the realities of today, like climate change, blaming others and risking leaving the United States and our planet behind. o Hillary has taken laid out ambitious goals for cooperating to address climate change, building on actions at home and her strong record of getting diplomatic results. Others have said American should not be multicultural or that we should seal our borders. o Hillary believes that the diverse fabric of our nation is one of our greatest assets, powers our innovation, inspires those who face oppression around the world, and represents our greatest values. Hillary believes we are all one team the American team. The choice for the American people could not be more clear. American leadership has never been more important, and we have to take on global challenges directly and effectively and do the hard, patient work that will ensure we win the long game. Shaping this time of change and overcoming today s threats while seizing its opportunities will not be easy. We cannot do it by either blustering our way forward or moving mindlessly backward. We need a leader who has a strong vision for the future, and the skill and determination to get us there. And Hillary believes that our best days are ahead of us and that America s greatest contributions to the world are yet to come.