Singapore is often described as a country punching above its weight. That is certainly true with regard to US-Singapore relations. Going from strength to strength, recent developments have moved our bilateral relationship up a weight class. In February 2012 in Washington, DC, we launched the US-Singapore Strategic Partnership Dialogue (SPD) during a week when bilateral relations between our two countries received more attention than at any other time in recent history.
As America's economic recovery continues, President Obama is doing everything possible to build a strong foundation for future growth. The President's blueprint for an America built to last calls for Americans to make, grow and provide products the rest of the world will buy. To support this goal, US trade policy focuses on opening markets and securing a level playing field for US exporters.
Iran held parliamentary elections on March 2 and will hold presidential elections in 2013. The parliamentary elections were basically a competition between conservative factions, with the reformers and the opposition Green Movement excluded from the competition. The presidential election is certain to confirm the ascendancy of the hardliners among Iran's ruling elite; and the results of both these elections will have far-reaching implications for Iranian domestic and foreign policy.
Brazil's emergence on the world stage is one of the most interesting and important events of this new century. It is also one of the most consequential for the interests and well-being of the United States.
Every Ambassador to Washington is compelled to highlight the importance of his or her country's relationship with the United States. And as is self-evident, every Ambassador will state that the relationship of her or his country with the United States is of paramount importance. However, if we measure the impact two countries have on each other's well-being, security and prosperity, it is safe to unequivocally say that there are no two as important to on e another as Mexico and the United States. This is more than a premise; it is a reality.
This is a crucial time for El Salvador. This year, the country commemorates the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords, which ended a painful 12-year civil war that took mo re than 75,000 lives and changed the country forever. Twenty years later, the arduous process of democratic consolidation and the implementation of critical development initiatives continues.
As the United States prepares to host the first NATO Summit on American soil since 1999, the transatlantic Alliance faces an unfamiliar strategic challenge: how to retain and acquire the capabilities it needs for the future during an unprecedented period of fiscal austerity. NATO's original purpose has remained constant through the decades, and the 2010 Strategic Concept formulates it in language that could have come from the 1949 Treaty: “to safeguard the freedom and security of all its members by political and military means.” What has evolved is the range of security challenges that threaten NATO nations, but also, crucially, the public's perception of these threats and the resources needed to confront them.
In many ways, 2011 was an exceptional year for French-American relations. As the world underwent deep transformations, particularly with the Arab Spring, the United States and France demonstrated the strength of their partnership and the importance of what they can accomplish together
The late Emperor of Ethiopia, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I (1892- 1975), may be known for his emotionally charged appeal to the League of Nations in June 1936, but his legacy goes far beyond this one speech. Among his many quotes and discourses, perhaps his most influential and compelling address occurred on May 5, 1941, after he led British, South African, Ethiopian and other African forces into the capital of Addis Ababa and declared victory over the brutal Italian Fascist occupation.
The Council of American Ambassadors is a nonpartisan, professional organization established in 1983 that endeavors to educate the public about policy issues affecting the national interest. It also supports the role of the ambassador and the embassy team in carrying out US foreign policy in countries around the world.