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DE RUEHC #3083/01 1190147
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 290124Z APR 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI IMMEDIATE 7018

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 043083 
 
SIPDIS, PASS TO PAOS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAO
SUBJECT: U.S. FOREIGN POLICY: ENGAGING THE WORLD 
 
¶1. In keeping with the President's vision for active 
diplomatic engagement with the world to advance American 
interests and address the challenges our nation faces in 
the 21st century, our foreign policy team has been 
actively promoting partnerships to secure a better 
future, addressing the global financial crisis, and 
implementing a vision for an America that adheres to our 
values, protects our people, and promotes mutual 
understanding and respect around the world. 
 
¶2. The President, Secretary Clinton, and others on the 
foreign policy team have traveled around the globe 
meeting with leaders and engaging foreign publics in 
order to listen to their concerns, learn from their 
perspectives, and seek out opportunities for cooperation 
in areas of mutual interest.  Our approach is based on 
an understanding that while we may reach common purpose 
in many areas, we will also disagree on principle in 
some others.  When we do disagree, we voice our 
disagreement respectfully. 
 
¶3. As we near the end of the First 100 Days of the Obama 
Administration on April 29, we expect that the 
international media, like their American counterparts, 
will use this moment to take stock of the 
Administration's and your progress. The talking points 
in this cable are meant to help answer questions about 
the Administration's approach to global issues and how 
the United States hopes to interact with them. 
 
¶4. Begin Proposed Talking Points 
 
The President's Foreign Policy 
 
-- The President took office with a commitment to seek a 
better relationship with the world, repair alliances, 
and build partnerships to deal with global threats and 
concerns.  He expressed it clearly in his inaugural 
address when he told the American people and the world: 
"America is a friend of each nation, and every man, 
woman and child who seeks a future of peace and 
dignity.  And we are ready to lead once more." 
 
-- In his second full day in office, the President 
upheld America's values while protecting our armed 
forces and homeland by signing executive orders to close 
the Guantanamo Bay detention center and banning torture. 
 
-- That same day, President Obama also visited the State 
Department to convey his "commitment to the importance 
of diplomacy and renewing American leadership."  He 
said: "The inheritance of our young century demands a 
new era of American leadership.  We must recognize that 
America's strength comes not just from the might of our 
arms or the scale of our wealth, but from our enduring 
values.  And for the sake of our national security and 
the common aspirations of people around the globe, this 
era has to begin now." 
 
-- In these first 100 days, the President, along with 
his entire foreign policy team, including our diplomats 
on the front lines, have directly engaged people and 
leaders across the globe and demonstrated that America 
will rely on strength, vision, and respect in order to 
make progress possible. 
 
-- The President has laid out a foreign policy vision 
that rejects the false choice between our values and our 
security; the world needs to see that we can be true to 
our values and ideals while advancing our interests. 
 
-- The President is following through on a commitment to 
do a more effective job of reaching out, listening, and 
speaking to the Muslim world, with an interview on Al 
Arabiya, a new year's message to the people of Iran, and 
a speech to the Turkish people.  He expressed America's 
desire that our relationship with the Muslim world be 
based on more than our shared opposition to terrorism. 
We seek broader engagement based on mutual interest and 
mutual respect. 
 
-- We will promote progress and change first through the 
power of our ideas.  We will seek to implement these 
ideas by using all elements of national power: smart 
diplomacy, effective development, economic leverage, and 
military solutions. 
 
-- This Administration recognizes that while there are 
 
STATE 00043083  002 OF 003 
 
 
instances and individuals who can be met only by force, 
the United States will be prepared to listen to and talk 
with our adversaries in order to advance our interests. 
 
Diplomatic Achievements of the First 100 Days 
 
-- The President and his economic team rallied the world 
at the G-20 behind concrete steps to deal with the 
global financial crisis.  We did so while placing an 
emphasis on making sure that those less fortunate were 
not ignored, and called on the Congress to double U.S. 
financial support for agricultural development in the 
developing world to more than $1 billion in 2010. 
 
-- At the NATO and EU Summits, we partnered with our 
Allies on a new strategy to address the serious 
challenge we face in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Our new 
approach focuses our efforts on confronting a common 
enemy that threatens the United States, our friends and 
our allies, and the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan 
who have suffered the most at the hands of violent 
extremists.  We will pursue intensive regional 
diplomacy, provide more for the civilian aspects of the 
mission, and fully resource our efforts to train Afghan 
security forces. 
 
-- When North Korea defied the international community 
with a provocative missile launch in April, the United 
States and the other members of the UN Security Council 
unanimously condemned the action and confirmed that it 
violates international law and would result in real 
consequences for North Korea. 
 
-- Also in April, the President outlined our goal for a 
nuclear weapons free world and launched a multi-pronged 
effort to reverse the tide of nuclear proliferation, 
reinvigorated our international effort on Iran's illicit 
nuclear program, and revived critical arms control talks 
with Russia. 
 
-- As part of an ambitious American agenda, we have 
reset our relationship with Russia, promoted a new era 
of partnership with our hemisphere at the Summit of the 
Americas, sought to engage adversaries like Cuba and 
Iran, and begun the process of responsibly ending the 
war in Iraq. 
 
Brief Recap of Major Foreign Policy Developments 
 
-- Laid out new agenda for America's foreign policy and 
consulted with our European allies at the Munich 
Security Conference, U.S.-European Union Summit, and the 
NATO Summit, and with our Western hemisphere neighbors 
at the Summit of the Americas. 
 
-- Appointed Special Envoys and Representatives for the 
Middle East, South West Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, 
Sudan, and Climate Change. 
 
-- Established a new policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan 
that focuses our efforts and sets clear objectives to 
disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda with the support 
of our allies and partners. 
 
-- Announced a plan to end the war in Iraq responsibly 
and on a timeline that assures safety and stability. 
 
-- Ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay Detention 
Center within one year. 
 
-- Banned the enhanced detention techniques that were 
authorized under the prior administration and made clear 
that the United States does not torture. 
 
-- Rallied the world at the G-20 Summit behind concrete 
steps to deal with the global financial crisis, 
including increased assistance for developing nations, 
and a renewed commitment to free and fair trade. 
 
-- Launched a multi-pronged initiative to reverse the 
tide of nuclear proliferation, reinvigorated our 
international effort to deal with the threat from Iran's 
illicit nuclear program and revived critical arms 
control talks with the Russians. 
 
-- Launched new plan to combat drug-related violence 
along the U.S.-Mexico Border. 
 
-- Advanced partnerships in clean energy and climate 
change, starting with the first preparatory session of 
the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate on April 
27-28. 
 
STATE 00043083  003 OF 003 
 
 
-- Rallied our allies and the world community in 
response to the launching of the North Korean missile 
launch and piracy off the coast of Somalia. 
 
-- Engaged our neighbors in this hemisphere at the 
Summit of the Americas and launched a new relationship 
based on mutual respect and shared responsibility, and 
announced new policy steps towards Cuba. 
 
100 Days By the Numbers (as of 04/23/09) 
President Obama 
--Meetings with foreign leaders: 44 
--Phone calls to foreign leaders: 56 
--Countries visited: 8 
--Multilateral Summits attended: 4 
--Overseas Press Conferences and availabilities: 11 
--Discussions with foreign youth: 2 
--Foreign interviews given: 3 
 
Vice President Biden 
--Countries Visited: 4 
--Foreign officials met: 36 
--Multilateral meetings or conferences attended: 4 
--Phone calls with foreign leaders: 4 
--Overseas Press Conferences: 3 
 
Secretary Clinton 
--Meetings with foreign leaders: More than 150 
--Countries Visited: 18 
--Traveled more than 60,000 miles on her own (i.e. not 
counting Presidential trips) 
--Touched nearly 80 countries, on every continent, by 
phone call, meeting or travel 
 
The entire National Security team has been intensely 
engaged and as you describe our engagement and foreign 
policy approach you should include the hard work you do 
every day as part of this effort. 
 
End talking points. 
 
¶5. In closing, the President and the entire Washington 
foreign policy team recognize that the Administration's 
quick start would not have been possible without your 
support and energy.  We want you to know that we 
appreciate that all of you serving abroad do so at 
significant sacrifice and even peril.  Your dedication 
and service to the nation do us proud.  As we visit your 
countries in support of the work you do to promote our 
interests, we hope to have the opportunity to thank you 
in person. 
 
¶6. Minimize considered. 
CLINTON