Madam Secretary and India

This past week, President-elect Obama introduced Hillary Clinton as the top diplomat in the country as his nominee for the Secretary of State position.  Hillary’s first looming task as State Secretary is the crisis in South Asia. President-elect Barack Obama on Monday said that instability in that region poses "the single most important threat against the American people."  Terrorists killed six Americans in Mumbai during the attacks, and Obama’s team’s job is to investigate and make sure the finger pointing does not go out of control over the next few weeks. They need to be unbiased and not blame Islam or Pakistan straight off the bat. What really complicates the whole situation now is Defense Secretary Hillary Clinton’s ties with the Indian community abroad and in the United States. During her eight years as a senator and during her run as a presidential candidate, Clinton toured India, met with officials and talked with Indian businessmen. Her campaigns for both the Senate and the Presidency were profited by the donations of Indians both here and there. As a senator, Hillary Clinton was a co-chair of the Senate India Caucus in Congress. Many of the Indian businessmen who donated to the Clinton Senate campaign also donated to hubby Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation. Many Pakistanis feel this gives them a clear disadvantage against their nuclear rival to the east when it comes to U.S. foreign relations under Obama. The Indian-American community in the U.S. was thrilled by her nomination from the President-Elect, “Senator Clinton will continue the close relationship between the United States and India that started with the Clinton administration and has progressed in the Bush years…we're very lucky that we have in Senator Clinton someone who is already well-versed on one of the more important countries and emerging economies in the world" said Varun Nikore, founder of the Indian-American Leadership Initiative. Indo-American relations were strengthened under the forty-second president, the Clinton administration embraced India as a major power and market during the 90’s. Clinton’s preferential treatment of India over Pakistan is still fresh in the eyes of many Pakistani officials. It’s evident from President Clinton’s 2000 Asian trip, when he spent five days in India and seven hours in Pakistan. Obama and Clinton must not take sides and should examine the attack with patience and impartiality. If the regime looks to work with this highly volatile area of the world and win the War on Terror they must not jump to conclusions, because simply jumping the gun and playing the blame game would be repeating our past administrations’ mistakes. 

Russia and China Playing in the Backyard

President-Elect Barack Obama faces a huge challenge from Russia and China when he enters office. This past week, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, Russian warships will be doing training exercises in the Caribbean as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's goes on a four-nation tour (Peru, Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela) through Latin America. Also, the week before the Russian President’s trip, the Chinese President Hu Jintao traveled to the region. These visits come in response from the U.S.’s skepticism with NAFTA and the Columbia free-trade pact as the two other major world powers are going to try to fill that vacuum left by the Americans.  Obama also plans to slowly open up trade with Cuba for the first time in almost half a century. What is even scarier about Russia’s visit is its partnership with Venezuela. The two countries will negotiate an arms and energy deal, and the Russians promise to help the Venezuelans build their first nuclear power plant. Putin and Medvedev are furious at U.S. intentions to build a missile shield in Eastern Europe and America’s support of NATO membership for former Soviet satellites and American objections against the Russian invasion of Georgia. President-Elect Obama should look to regain America’s sphere of influence before its too late. The dominos are being stacked way too close to home, as China and Russia look to have an extremely strong ties in our backyard. Also seen for the first time since the Cold War, was the installment of short-range missiles near Poland capable of striking NATO territory. The US plans to build a missile defense shield in Central Europe, a plan Obama supports. Obama needs to take a hard-line approach with the Russians and needs to reestablish US trade and influence in Latin America. This realignment of power in the world is seemingly headed down a road of a new struggle for power and influence in the globe, and the last place America needs to fight for influence is in its own hemisphere. Obama needs to restrain from the policies America has used for the past century with Latin America, interventionism. He must work with Latin American leaders and countries to build a strong alliance with the countries right below us and make sure our rivals do not get too far ahead of us. Also, the Obama regime must make sure that Latin America our allies i the region remain pro-West and pro-American.