President Obama says that all U.S. forces are on schedule to be fully withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011. At an afternoon press conference at the White House July 22nd with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Obama said that violence continues to be down, and Iraqis are taking responsibility for their future. The transfer of control of all Iraqi cities and towns to Iraq's security forces was outlined in a Status of Forces Agreement in 2008. Obama emphasized that the United States seeks no bases in Iraq and makes no claim on Iraq's territory or resources. The meeting between al-Maliki and Obama is their first at the White House. The president met with al-Maliki in Baghdad in April.
Obama said all U.S. combat brigades will be removed from Iraq by the end of August 2010 and all U.S. troops by the end of 2011. The president also said he and al-Maliki realize that there will be attacks on Iraqi security forces and the American troops supporting them. But he said the reports from U.S. military commanders have been “extremely positive about the progress that has been made.” Al-Maliki added that President Obama agreed that Iraq no longer represents a threat to international peace and security, and that Iraq looks forward to a constructive and positive relationship with its neighbors and the international community. Part of building this relationship is the removal of sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United Nations following the 1991 Gulf War. The sanctions require that Saddam Hussein's Iraq pay 5 percent of its oil revenues for war reparations. Obama said he has made a strong commitment to remove the sanctions, saying it would be a mistake for Iraq to be burdened by the sins of a deposed dictator.
On July 20th, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged a new era of strengthened U.S. relations with India and announced the launch of a strategic dialogue between the two countries. Clinton visited Mumbai before traveling to New Delhi for talks with government leaders, business representatives and university students.
The India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue will meet every year, alternating between New Delhi and Washington, and will be chaired by Clinton and Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna, according to a joint statement. The dialogue will cover a range of issues, from common security interests and defense cooperation to nuclear nonproliferation, education, climate change and energy security. The dialogue is not limited to the two governments; it will also include the private sector and academia.
Clinton said that she and President Obama were committed to engaging the private sector, the academic sector, NGOs and particularly young people. The strategic dialogue represents a significant step in bilateral relations and an important acknowledgement of India's increasing role in global affairs. Clinton invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a state visit November 24th in Washington – the first state visit of the Obama administration.
Two significant agreements between the United States and India were also finalized. First, two sites in India — in the states of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh — were identified for the construction of two nuclear power plants to be supplied by U.S. companies. The second agreement permits the United States to ensure that highly sensitive defense technologies bought by India are not diverted to other uses or transferred to third countries. This agreement clears the way for the sale of 126 advanced fighter planes to the Indian military.
Following her meetings in India, Clinton traveled to Thailand for meetings with senior government leaders and to attend a gathering of foreign ministers from ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
2009 marks 20 years since the passage of a landmark piece of legislation in the U.S. Congress: the Support for East European Democracy, or SEED, Act of 1989. SEED has supported hundreds of programs and partnerships designed to assist in the difficult transition to political and economic freedom for former communist countries.
In November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, an historic moment symbolizing the end of the Cold War. Two years later, the Soviet Union dissolved, resulting in the formation of 27 separate countries with a total population of more than 400 million people. At the time, Europe and the United States, along with much of the rest of the world, were euphoric as a new era of international relations was under way.
But even as the nations of Central and Eastern Europe celebrated the end of communist rule, they faced the question of what was to come next. The challenges facing the countries were massive. National economies were bankrupt, civil societies fragile, and social services on the verge of collapse. A democratic future for the region was not guaranteed. Throughout the region, the newly liberated populations faced recession, unemployment and insecurity.
SEED is notable for the flexibility it gave the U.S. government to adapt to changing conditions, according to U.S. diplomats. The program began with assistance to only Poland and Hungary, but then expanded to Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and other countries that experienced anti-communist revolutions.
Democracy-building initiatives under SEED have included support for free elections, nongovernmental organizations and civil society, independent media, transparent legal systems, anti-corruption measures and local governance. Economic programs have supported privatization, fiscal and tax reform, environmental protection, and the development of banking and financial services, small enterprises and energy.
In 1999, a U.S. Agency for International Development report noted that, while promising changes had occurred, reform was far from complete. Institutional development and corruption remained widespread problems. But it was clear that there was no going back.
Today, 11 Central and Eastern European nations have now left the SEED program, and 10 have joined both the European Union and NATO. These countries have now become foreign aid donors themselves, contributing to a common European Union development fund. Many are designing their own bilateral programs to assist other nations seeking democratic and free-market reforms.
Today, SEED is focusing on six nations — Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia — with programs and partnerships in the broad areas of peace and security, democratic governance, social services and economic growth.
Despite its many successes, there is still a role for the SEED program. But according to U.S. diplomats, SEED's ultimate goal is to go out of business.
