Advice for U.S. Secretary of State Rice
The alma mater of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, hosted a two-hour forum last Thursday, 17 Feb 2005, with the purpose of exploring “What recommendations can we offer to Dr. Condi Rice on economic development, global health, and security issues?”
Four women scholars – two professors and two Fulbright graduate students – presented to a diverse and international crowd of 58 students and professionals.
Prof. Ilene Grabel, Associate Professor of International Finance, spoke first. (I missed the first 30 minutes and did not hear her speak.) Her recent book, Reclaiming Development: An Alternative Economic Policy Manual, takes on the “Washington Consensus” and calls into question the efficacy and wisdom of exporting the policies of absolute free trade and free financial flows to other countries, particularly developing countries. In the book, she argues for a more balanced approach that incorporates sustainable practices beyond the traditional “neoliberal” paradigm of the market-driven economy.
Prof. Susan Erikson, Director of the Global Health Affairs Program at GSIS, started her talk with the statement: “Progressive right action in foreign policy today is a legitimization of health as foreign policy.” Her recommendations included:
- Legitimize health as high politics
- Make health an everyday concern of the U.S. State Department
- Seek out global partisans
Carina Solmirano, a Fulbright scholar from Argentina, was prepared to deliver a “theoretical” presentation and decided to change her talk at the last minute based on the prior presentations. Her theme was security: “When security is weakened then terrorism grows.” Coming from Latin America, she feels that there is currently no defined U.S. policy towards the region, calling it the “forgotten part of the world, like Africa.” Her recommendations included:
- Provide leadership to the world
- Cooperate with multinational and bilateral institutions
- Empower the police in Latin America, not the military, to combat terrorism
- Don’t force countries to follow the U.S. model of governance
- Increase foreign aid for small infrastructure and micro-development projects
Hessa Khalifa Al Khalifa, a Fulbright scholar from Bahrain, started with the assertion that the U.S. has accumulated more known and unknown enemies than ever before. Her
recommendations included:
- Provide leadership
- U.S. should help worn-torn nations but shouldn’t intervene
- Prevent conflicts before they begin with increased dialogue
- Increase participation by underrepresented nations and groups
- Respect and recognize the importance of cultural identity
The event was hosted and organized by the recently-formed Denver chapter of Women in International Security (WIIS), based at Georgetown University. In addition to hosting regular events throughout the year in Washington, D.C., WIIS holds a six-day summer symposium. Symposium attendance is limited to enrolled graduate students and applications must be received by March 4, 2005.