Condoleezza Rice: Ukraine Shows Need for US to be World Leader

Condoleezza Rice: Ukraine Shows Need for US to be World Leader

Friday, 07 Mar 2014 10:43 PM

By Cathy Burke

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/condoleezza-rice-ukraine-foreign-policy-russia/2014/03/07/id/556795

The unrest in Ukraine should be "a wake-up call" for those who think America doesn't need to assume the responsibilities of being a world leader, former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice warned Friday.

In a Washington Post opinion piece, Rice, who served from 2005-2009 in the administration of President George W. Bush, said the United States can't "step back, lower its voice about democracy and human rights and let others lead" because "dictators and extremists across the globe will be emboldened."

Rice said the problem in Ukraine "has been brewing for some time between the West and Russia," and in the near future, Russia must be shown "that further moves will not be tolerated and that Ukraine’s territorial integrity is sacrosanct."

"The longer-term task is to answer Putin’s statement about Europe’s post-Cold War future," she said. "He is saying that Ukraine will never be free to make its own choices — a message meant to reverberate in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states — and that Russia has special interests it will pursue at all costs.... He will turn the clock back as far as intimidation through military power, economic leverage and Western inaction will allow."

After Russian's invasion of Georgia in 2008, modest steps taken by the United States — including sending ships into the Black Sea and humanitarian aid — "did not hold."

"And then the Obama administration’s 'reset' led to an abrupt revision of plans to deploy missile defense components in the Czech Republic and Poland," she wrote. "Talk of Ukraine and Georgia’s future in NATO ceased. Moscow cheered."

This time, Rice wrote, things have to be different.

"Putin is playing for the long haul, cleverly exploiting every opening he sees," she wrote.

"So must we, practicing strategic patience if he is to be stopped. Moscow is not immune from pressure," including "authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline and championing natural gas exports," and reaching out to Russian youth to let the know America supports "their ambitions."

"Most important, the United States must restore its standing in the international community, which has been eroded by too many extended hands of friendship to our adversaries, sometimes at the expense of our friends," she wrote.

"Inaction" in Syria, "signs that we are desperate for a nuclear agreement with Iran," the declining U.S. defense budget and a possible withdrawal from Afghanistan "signal that we no longer have the will or intention to sustain global order," she wrote.

Abandoning our leadership role, Rice wrote, will open a vacuum that will be filled by extremists like al-Qaeda, dictators like Bashar al-Assad and "the likes of Vladimir Putin, who understands that hard power still matters."

Condoleeza Rice

Condoleezza Rice is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Note: World View: Henry Kissinger Says Vladimir Putin Wants a Way Out (Past Research)

Saturday, March 8, 2014

http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2014/03/world-view-henry-kissinger-says.html

Henry A. Kissinger is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a board member for the International Crisis Group, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank), the International Rescue Committee, the Climate Reality Project, the Urban Institute (think tank), and the Committee for Economic Development.

Thomas R. Pickering is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a co-chair for the International Crisis Group, was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a U.S. ambassador for Russia.

Michael K. Powell is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and is Colin L. Powell’s son.

Colin L. Powell is Michael K. Powell’s father, an overseer at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, and a strategic limited partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Albert A. Gore Jr. is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and the chairman for the Climate Reality Project.

Charles P. Rose Jr. is an investor in Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the executive producer & host for the Charlie Rose Show, and a friend of Warren E. Buffett.

Warren E. Buffett is a friend of Charles P. Rose Jr., a life trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank), and an underwriter for the Nuclear Tipping Point.

Ted Turner is an underwriter for the Nuclear Tipping Point, and the founder of CNN.

Walter Isaacson was the chairman & CEO for CNN, and is the president & CEO for the Aspen Institute (think tank).  

Henry A. Kissinger was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), is interviewed in the Nuclear Tipping Point, a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

William J. Perry is interviewed in the Nuclear Tipping Point, and an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

George P. Shultz is interviewed in the Nuclear Tipping Point, an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.

Richard H. Davis is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and a managing director at Davis Manafort.

Viktor F. Yanukovich is a Davis Manafort client, and was the president of the Ukraine.