Author Archives: Adrienne

The media was continuously assessing Barack Obama’s day to day progress as president. What was going to be the first piece of legislature he would sign, who he was talking to and what he looked like sitting in the oval office. Meanwhile, a previously media saturated politician has likewise been going about her job. Hillary Clinton fills the position of Secretary of State which Barack Obama offered her last fall. Some may think of it as a condolence prize but none-the-less, she’s putting in the same hard working effort into the job as she always has. 

And as Obama has been making the policy and procedure changes necessary in our changing world, Hillary Clinton has began her international voyages in Asia. And while this is unconventional, it makes sense. China is rising in political power and economic strength while Japan is undergoing a financial crisis. Furthermore Japan and the US are making efforts to manage security issues with North Korea. 

Hillary Clinton signed an agreement with Japan during this trip allowing 8,000 US marines to move from Japan to Guam despite opposition of this move by Japanese locals. These marines were there as a party of the World War II mutual security pact. 

However, there was some tension from the visit as North Korea suggested it may fire a missile from it’s eastern coast capable of reaching the US west coast. Korean news announced that this missile was related to space development rather than a military attack yet it was still not found to be welcoming. However Clinton is maintaining that before relations between the US and North Korea can be normalized they must dismantle their nuclear program.

Resistance followed her to Indonesia where she was met by thousands of protesters filling the street. Indonesia is the worlds largest Muslim majority country and she hopes to strengthen US ties with the Islamic world through this visit.

On another note, Clinton hopes to make several strides during the visit in discussing the use of  cleaner and renewable sources of energy with Asian countries.

“If China and India don’t join with us in our efforts to control the emissions and begin to stop and reverse the damage to the earth from everything we have already done, I don’t think we can achieve the sustainability goals that we must set for ourselves.”

As China has now exceeded the US in greenhouse gas emissions, she sees an opportunity for Japan and The United States to collaborate in an effort to aid China in reducing their emissions. 

However, Hillary Clinton will not be headed to India on this trip to Asia. India is developing very rapidly now and building itself as a nuclear power. It would be a great time to improve relations with such a country and a stop in New Delhi was initially proposed in the trip’s itinerary. 

Clinton will return to DC on February 22 from China.