Condi coins a new phrase: American Realisim [View All]

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A Foreign Policy, In Two Words

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 8, 2007; Page A17

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, countering criticism that the Bush administration has fundamentally broken with past U.S. foreign policy, asserted in a speech last night that the administration's policies are instead part of a 100-year-old tradition that she labeled "American realism."

"American realism deals with the world as it is but strives to make the world better than it is," Rice told the Economic Club of New York. "More free. More just. More peaceful. More prosperous. Ultimately safer. Not perfect. But better."


Rice used the term "American realism" 16 times in her remarks, an apparent effort to coin a phrase that would resonate long after the administration leaves office in 19 months. It was the first time that Rice has offered an overriding label for the administration's foreign policy since 2000, when, as an adviser to then-Gov. George W. Bush, she wrote an article for Foreign Affairs stressing that a new Republican administration would focus on promoting "the national interest" rather than the interests of the international community.

Under President Bush, U.S. alliances in Europe, the Middle East and Asia have become strained because of policies -- ranging from global warming to Iraq -- that many critics decry as a dangerous shift in the United States' approach to world affairs. Much of Rice's speech appeared intended to address assertions by Democrats that Bush broke with foreign policy traditions when he abandoned many policies pursued by President Bill Clinton on North Korea, the Middle East, global warming and other issues.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/07/AR2007060702239.html