The United States may lose its chance to reshape the politics of the Middle East if budget pressures hobble US support for democratic forces emerging in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday. Clinton and Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, appearing in a townhall-style meeting, argued strongly against further cuts to military, diplomatic and development spending as the United States struggles to slash its $1.4 trillion deficit.
"We have an opportunity right now in the Middle East and North Africa that I'm not sure we're going to be able to meet because we don't have the resources to invest," Clinton said, citing Egypt, Tunisia and Libya as badly in need of US help. "Budget documents are value statements: who we are as a people, what we stand for, what investments we're making in the future," Clinton said.
"Whether we will continue to be strong and be able to project American power is up for grabs, and we're going to make the best case we can that American power is a power for the good...we hope that it will find a ready audience in the Congress as these negotiations resume." Clinton's remarks were her strongest to date warning that fiscal austerity at home, depending how it's implemented, could weaken the US leadership role overseas.
The International Monetary Fund has estimated that the oil-importing countries of the Middle East and North Africa such as Egypt and Tunisia will need more than $160 billion over the next three years. Obama has pledged to support democratic transitions in both countries, but to date has offered relatively limited assistance including a debt swap worth roughly $1 billion for Egypt and another $1 billion in loans and loan guarantees.
Clinton said that despite the financial constraints, the United States remained the world's leading power - but was using that power, as in the case of the internationally-backed campaign against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, to build alliances and share burdens with other countries.
Comments
Comments are closed.