Rex Tillerson’s new goal for the State Department: Drop democracy promotion abroad
Did Secretary of State Rex Tillerson just abandon the cause of justice and democracy abroad?
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You’d think that only supervillains would oppose justice and democracy overseas, but Donald Trump’s top foreign diplomat may prove you wrong.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may be abandoning America’s longstanding habit of promoting justice and democracy throughout the world — or, at the very least, paying lip service to that ideal. Tillerson has ordered a new statement of purpose for the State Department, and draft statements have been leaked, according to a report by The Washington Post. While the new statements are similar to the old mission statement, one key difference is that the new draft omits any explicit reference to democracy or justice.
According to an internal email sent out on Friday by the State Department’s Executive Steering Committee:
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The State Department’s draft statement on its purpose is: “We promote the security, prosperity and interests of the American people globally.”
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The State Department’s draft statement on its mission is: “Lead America’s foreign policy through global advocacy, action and assistance to shape a safer, more prosperous world.”
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The State Department’s draft statement on its ambition is: “The American people thrive in a peaceful and interconnected world that is free, resilient and prosperous.”
By contrast, the first sentence of the previous State Department Mission Statement specifically called for “a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world.”
Former senior State Department officials told the Post that the elimination of that line is the only significant change Tillerson’s agency made. “We used to want a just and democratic world, and now apparently we don’t,” said Elliott Abrams, who served as deputy national security adviser for global democracy strategy during the George W. Bush administration.