In a candid admission amid criticism that the Obama administration is pursuing an ineffective foreign policy, US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that while America does possess enormous power, yet it can’t dictate every outcome in world affairs.
It’s a changed world, with a host of rising economic powers such as China, India, Mexico, Korea, Brazil and many others, Kerry told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
A former Senator who has been a member of this powerful committee for long years and then its chairman till his appointment as Secretary of State early last year, Kerry faced unusually sharp criticism from members over America’s declining influence in global affairs.
He drew flak, predominantly from Republicans, over the US inability to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine, and for the lack of progress of its diplomatic push vis-à-vis Syria, Iran and the Middle East. One member commented that the US foreign policy was “just spinning out of control”.
“You know, the United States has power, enormous power,” Kerry told the members, stressing: “But we can’t necessarily always dictate every outcome the way we want, particularly in this world where we have rising economic powers — China, India, Mexico, Korea, Brazil, many other people who are players”.
“You know, 11 of the 15 people who used to receive aid from IMF are now donor countries. We’re living in a changed world,” Kerry said, noting: “We’re living in an extremely complicated world, unlike anything most of us grew up with.”
The two-hour hearing saw a slanging match between Kerry and senior Republican Senator John McCain, who asserted that on major global issues, the Obama administration was “failing very badly”.
“You’re about to hit the trifecta. Geneva II was a total collapse, as I predicted to you that it would be,” McCain said, referring to the US-Russian bid for a political solution to end Syria’s civil war. McCain also commented that the Israeli-Palestinian talks “are finished”, and that Iran talks were bound to collapse as well. Kerry retorted that even if the attempts do not succeed, it’s worth the effort, given that the US has a responsibility to lead. “Sure we may fail. You want to dump it on meIJ I may fail. I don’t care. It’s worth doing,” he commented.
On the Middle East talks, Kerry told McCain, “It’s interesting that you declare it dead, but the Israelis and the Palestinians don’t declare it dead. They want to continue to negotiate.’