Well good evening I'm Deena Mansour. I'm the
executive director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center and want to welcome you to
this evening's dialogue. I am very fortunate to be in Washington DC tonight, which is pretty
rare for me. I feel very at home here at the US Department of State having been a former Diplomat
and and been in public service here um but we are tremendously honored to have this guest with
us this evening. Many of you I believe were signed up to see him in person As
sistant Secretary of
State for Global public affairs Bill Russo attempted to land in Missoula multiple times. He was able
to make it to Helena and to Great Falls but this is kind of a bit of a makeup-session. So I'll
just do a quick introduction on his bio because I think you've all seen it on our website when
you registered, but this is a true public servant that he has a lifetime of commitment to our Democracy.
In addition to serving at the US Department of State, he's also served at the N
ational Security
Council. So very honored to be here with you and thanks for speaking in a Mansfield dialogue
well thanks so much uh for having me now for uh second the second try, glad this one
worked out I know the weather I think the weather is much better in Missoula today. Though I was
actually checking and apparently Denver, where I was flying out of last time is getting socked
by about two feet of snow s thankfully we didn't reschedule it for in person tonight because
then I would h
ave probably had a problem getting out of Denver rather than getting into Missoula.
Yes I recall you saying that shortly before you came to Missoula you had gone from Brussels
to Brunei and maybe Denver to Missoula was a little harder. Yes, because I eventually
actually made it to Brunei. Yeah the Missoula trip was a little bit more difficult but I I
hugely appreciated everything that you and the Mansfield Center and the community did in
in making in being flexible and making the rest of the
visit in Helena and Great Falls uh work
and really grateful for for everyone who's tuning in tonight for for joining us in this session. Oh
great, so obviously you've been to Montana. You understand a bit about what our context is in
Montana so I think I'd just love to hear from you a bit about what you do, the work you do and and
why you're speaking out to you know Montana and Regional audiences. No of course so you know the
work of the Bureau of global public affairs that I lead is to te
ll the story of American diplomacy,
and we do that all around the world, we do that in many languages and of course foreign
audiences a key part of that work, but we also have a domestic mandate we also are tasked with telling
the story of American foreign policy and diplomacy here at home. And and kind of explaining to the
American people what it is that we are doing all around the world on their behalf and explaining
the value of that work and so of course, you know there's we have a very
powerful megaphone
here in Washington. You know we have we have, we're just across the hall from the State Department
Podium the Press briefing room. Where we have daily briefings to engage the press and and kind of
get out word on what we're doing and face those questions. We have social media
and many other ways to engage but you know I think there's really no substitute for getting
out beyond the four walls of this building and engaging communities directly. So
that's why I was in Mont
ana and why we try and get our diplomats, particularly our senior
leadership really all the way up and down the or ation out into communities talking about the work
that the state department does each and every day around the world on behalf of the American people.
Well you recently issued the inaugural report on your bureau's efforts to engage with Americans on
the way diplomacy and foreign policy affect their lives, tell us a little bit about this report
and the shift and circumstances th
at prompted this new initiative. So you know as I said part of our
job is is explaining American foreign policy and and American diplomacy here at home. The
the larger task of kind of domestic engagement such as it is doesn't actually really belong in
any one part of our organization. Right there's no office that you know, that is the central node that
does it. Our Congressional Affairs team obviously engages members of Congress which is part of that
work. We have a new team led by Ambassad
or Nina Ishidi that does sub-national diplomacy. So they're
engaging with Mayors, Governors, City councils and kind of subnational level groups around
the country. Our regional bureaus who have kind of covered certain geographys are in charge of
engaging the diaspora communities that come from, that come from their region, and so they
have an important piece of the pie. But I think you know we there's a really important element
that that we have, that is that is the media element. But that i
s also working with academic
institutions like the Mansfield Center University of Montana dealing with Civic groups like
rotary clubs, tanas clubs, world affairs councils and others. And that's an important part of
the pie that we own but for too long you know, we haven't quite been able to put data behind
it and, and you know we we are we are incredibly focused on being data driven in our work uh and
being very rigorous in the way that we do it. But we just we didn't have a great census as
to
what communities were we reaching, how many people were we reaching. Will we you know reaching out
to people kind of in ways that were geographically diverse, socioeconomically diverse, racially
and ethnically diverse. You know how can, we can't really understand if we are doing our
job well until we know that information and so we our senior officials were going. What academic
institutions and civic groups we were regularly reaching out to and engaging with. So then at the end of the y
ear we were actually able to kind of pull all of that together and put
it out in this report, and you know it's the first time that we've done it but I really insisted on
calling it an annual report because now that we've done that it sets an expectation that in January
of 2025 there will be another one that will come out that will kind of offer a certain level of
transparency on the work that we've done. You know I think what it lays out is work that we are
very proud of, what we have alre
ady accomplished in terms of the the reach that we have, we also
do we also don't have a programming budget for the office that does all of this work. So we
rely on Partners in organizations like yours that have incredible local reach, that
can put together incredible events like this. But I think in also in putting it out you know
it also set the marker for where we need to improve. And you know looking at this document
you know one of the states that we weren't able to reach in 2023 was M
ontana. So you know,
knowing where those gaps are allows us to really focus ourselves in 2024 to make sure that we
don't have those same gaps in 2024 and that we we do an even better job. Because we know that
we have set an expectation that we'll be making that data public, and we'll be held accountable
for it. Yeah, so there were 10 states that you missed in 2023, does your office intend to go,
I mean you rectified it with Montana, but do you intend to hit the other 10 states then as an of
fice. That's
absolutely the intent and the hope and of course you know again you know part of what
our office is doing is you know it's not just me and and kind of our our small team that does
this that we want to reach out there. We play a coordinating role across the entire department,
and so part of you know my job part of the the the Bureau of Public public affairs the work that
we do is meant to, you know, basically corner some of my colleagues around the building and say "hey
I think
there's a really great opportunity for you to go and talk about our mineral Security
Programs in North Dakota". Or you know find another kind of hook uh you know our
educational and cultural uh Affairs uh Bureau say Hey you know you have a really great exchange
alumni uh uh Padre in Minnesota we really need you to go there part of our work is finding
out not just where those gaps are, but who are the best people in our institution who have the
most compelling story to offer about how our w
ork benefits these particular communities, and how can
we push them to go out and and do that engagement. And I have to say it really is encouraging for
me that so many of my colleagues are enthusiastic about this and it's actually kind of funny,
you know they will come back from from a trip and after a senior staff meeting in the
morning will come up to me be like I just did you see my press release did you see the
the trip that I just did you know they'd be very excited about kind of want
ing to claim credit
for the work that they did you know make sure that it gets counted in in the next report that
you know that that their picture is going to be you know on on the glossy pages of the next
one so it also fosters a little bit of a competitive spirit among our senior officials. Make
sure that they are going out and meeting this need. Well this is incredibly important, in
Montana we are 49th in the nation in terms of all the internationalization assessments by
The Institute of
international Educations Open Door report. So that's people who speak a
second language, people who study abroad, people who work with an international business.
So the mandate of the Mansfield Center to support democracy and to support International engagement
is very interwoven with your mandate. When you came to Montana you were supposed to have met
with a number of high school and k through eight audiences, Target Range School, Hellgate high school,
University of Montana students, up t
o Salish Kotenai college and to meet with the tribal
council. But you did make it to Helena and Great Falls, you met with the Montana Farmers Union, Carol
College, a number of public audiences. Anything that really struck you and helps inform the work
that the state department does. I should say I mean to um to go back on the education point, I should say
I was very pleased we were able to set up a zoom with the target range school and with their
partner in Nepal. And so they actually got t
o kind of talk with us. I think they were like 7:30 a.m. Missoula time but actually got to kind of meet that the students hear about the incredible
vortic culture project that they were working on actually talk to their kind of partner in Nepal.
And hear from the students about how you know they they want to travel to Nepal, this is their big
you know, they've talked with the students, they've talked with the
faculty. They're engaged in this project and now they want to go travel, they want
to go on the ground and see it and that to me was just, that was just exactly what you
want to hear from these young students who have had their eyes open to the opportunities that
exist out in the world and who are just saying I want more of that. And this really came from a
US Department of State program that the Mansfield Center competitively bid on and won, we had
Global Secondary Educators come to Missoula. They were working with Big Sky High School,
they lived with Tony and Elaine Ha
era, they learned about target range school and this
Nepali High School teacher went back and developed the relationship with Target Range School, and that
was thanks to a US Department of State program. But answer the other part of the question that you
asked about. Kind of things I think was a surprise to learn or that have impacted you know the
the Department's work. You know I think I remain really struck by the conversation
I had with the Montana Farmers Union and sitting down with the
farmers there. I've
actually, I've had the chance to reflect back to my some of my colleagues here a few times that
um you know you might think you know ranchers farmers, if you don't know any better you might
think you know they're going to be really focused on kind of very you know micro issues
in terms you know there their soil health and and moisture and kind of elements like
that and I'm sure that's all true but you know they were, you know they had expertise on trade and geopolitics
and regional politics, and regional policy issues um that was
really really impressive and and and just to hear you know their their understanding of U.S.
Canada relations, U.S. Mexico relations, relations across Asia and Southeast Asia because it has
a huge impact on the markets that they are trying to reach out to and so you know it was
actually it was it was it ended up being kind of I mean it was a serious subject it ended up being
kind of funny that I think the week after I got back we
were in a meeting and we were having
a conversation about one of our our economic affairs leadership was talking about issues
around Paraguay and beef and Senator Tester had been expressing some concerns and
we were having it back and forth on this and and you know I think someone kind of I won't say
who kind of made an off-handed comment like like okay Paraguay and be like you know
like what's what's the deal here kind of like. I mean someone I think made the joke of what's
the beef goin
g back to the 1980s commercial and I just I chimed in from the sidelines because I was
like no, like Montana ranchers and Farmers care about this so much they are laser
focused on this. This came up, this was 15 minutes of a conversation that I just had last week and
I walked through you know JBS the processor located in Brazil and I was able, you know,
I came out of that conversation with a full understanding of the issues that they cared about
and were talking about and was able to kind o
f bring it to the table in this conversation. In a
way that I think surprised some of my colleagues who were like how how do you know so much about
beef and Montana at this point in time. And it was because I'd had the experience of being
in that room and hearing from them and just so just to say that I think you know if you
that is one meeting that was part of one part of of one trip that was just me. If you multiply that
out of across all of our senior officials having multiple engagement
s throughout the year it,
it's just clear how much of an impact these kind of engagements can have on helping policy makers
understand the real human impacts of what can just be you know columns in a spreadsheet or words on
a page, but that actually are having a real impact on living, living breathing people
particularly here in this country and so I think that was was one of the
conversations that really stuck with me in terms of the the the sophisticated approach to foreign
affairs that
Montana ranchers and Farmers have. And made me feel obligated to kind of come back to
Washington and really advocate for them and make sure that their issues were kind
of front and center in our policy debates here. And a great example of how people need to
get outside way more and engage with Montana and rural Americans but you know it's
true like you look at Montana and the issues that we're facing that are of critical Global
importance. You look at rare Earth mining, water, food security
. There's so many things that are
front and center for us in Montana every day that relate to great challenges around the world. Yeah,
yeah. So let's see, we had a number of questions from the audience we had over 200 well nearly
250 people registered for this Zoom so I'm gonna share a few questions from the audience I know
that people um have the ability to put questions in live in the Q&A box and we'll be turning to
those shortly um there are lots of questions about what is happening in I
srael and Gaza right
now um so I'll just frame it in terms of um this Administration is looking at the desperate
humanitarian need there now, doing air drops for humanitarian assistance building a pier
but clearly some ground action is needed. What does this Administration need to do to address the
humanitarian desperation there right now. So as I said earlier you're actually, we're right across
the hall from the the the state department press briefing room and actually yesterday uh Secretar
y
Blinkin did a virtual ministerial with some of his counterparts on the maritime effort
that is underway that President Biden announced at the State of the Union. Where you know the
the US military in conjunction with some of our partners is, as you said building a floating pier
off the coast that will provide another avenue for aid to get in and then he actually he came
right down afterwards to the Press briefing room and kind of outlined um you know kind of exactly
what uh what you've w
hat you've asked was you know what is our approach to to this
Challenge and I think U you know to to sum it up in short it is as you were alluding to all of the
above um that yes we are you know we are we are looking to aird drops to get to get some aid in
particularly in hard to reach spots in the north. Yes we are looking at establishing a floating pier
off the coast that will you know be able to get aid in. Yes World Central Kitchen, the
Jose Andre organization you know worked to help the
m getting a shipment in that came over from
Cyprus just the other day work uh the Moroccans just got an additional shipment that came in through working with the Israelis coming in through Kum Shalom
Crossing. And then there was just a shipment of wheat that came in through Ashad port in
Israel that you know all told is still being distributed but all told will basically be
able to provide six months worth of bread for a significant amount of wheat coming in, but
to your point, you know and a
s the secretary said yesterday. These are all necessary, these
are all good, these are not sufficient and that you know is really the Crux of this is ground access.
And that you know we and that more needs to happen and that Israel needs to do more to facilitate
that happening and so um you know I think that was kind of the the topline message that the secretary
had yesterday is that the United States is going to continue to do everything we can across all
of these domains to get all of th
e aid in that we can but that you know there is a limit to what
airdrops can accomplish alone, there's a limit to what a maritime option alone can accomplish,
but what we really need to see is more coming in through land. Now what we've seen in the last few
days is more we've seen uh we're back over 200 trucks a day of aid getting in um but that number
needs to go up and it's on Israel particulary through the Caram Shalom Crossing that they
control to get more stuff scanned to get to to lay
out. You know there have been some concerns
over quote unquote dual use items eight items that could be used for more nefarious purposes
or misused by Hamas. The secretary said we need better guidance from Israelis on what are those things that are prohibited to make sure that we can facilitate aid getting
through faster. You know the Israelis have opened up a new road across the middle of Gaza we
need to see that used more effectively to be getting more aid coming in and then the
other par
t of it, there was one other part of it. I lost my train of thought on the
one other part um which was. Well it will come back to me but all to say,
I think our approach now is that we are we are going to do everything
we can to maximize the unilateral tools for delivering humanitarian aid that we have. But
the real inflow the real piece of this is going to be more coming in through these crossings
and the Rafa Crossing in Egypt is probably you know pretty close to maxed out and so really
the obligation on this comes to Israel and so we are demanding of Israel, asking Israel to do
more to facilitate that. Again the numbers have gone up in recent days and that is very
promising that is very good um but that number one at the very least needs to be sustained
and quite frankly needs to be significantly increased and so I think you know whether it's
the president, the vice president, the secretary, others including others on the ground. This is
going to be the kind of main focu
s for us in the coming weeks is getting that aid in of
course. The other piece of this is that you know we still remain hopeful I don't know
that I would go so far as to stay optimistic but hopeful um that um amas will agree to the deal
on the table that would create um a a shortterm ceasefire that would not only get hostages out
um but would actually create the conditions on the ground for for significant amount of Aid to
not only get in but get distributed because I think one of the other
challenges that we see
here is not just yes the aid getting into Gaza is a challenge but the ability for Aid to be
distributed and I've now managed to talk long enough that I remembered what my other point
was um which is that the the the distribution is also challenging because um uh there needs to
be better deconfliction with the Israeli military and un and the other humanitarian organizations
on the ground who are trying to distribute the the aid itself um you know they are operating an
incredibly difficult circumstances on the ground uh and need to have better assurances that um
there you know that there will be the kind of effective deconfliction that means they won't end
up in the crossfire end up getting targeted uh by by errant strikes and so that is the other piece
of it is that if we can get um if we can get to this uh to this to the to the ceasefire um that
will that will open up a lot more in terms of distribution and if people you know one of the
other challeng
es that we're seeing is just kind of a sense of lawlessness and disorder on the
ground and that's in part because people are starving people need food and if they think that
one bread truck that they see going by might be their only chance for food for the next week you
know they might they're going to grasp at it and they're going to go for it um but if people can
feel confident that there is going to be constant Aid coming in that they're not going to um go days
or or maybe weeks without
having that opportunity then um the aid can be distributed into kind of
much more seamless uh and effective way uh so that's the other part of the the distribution
is the other part of the POR yeah well clearly this is um a tremendous issue for the United
States's reputation around the world because a lot of Middle Eastern countries but a lot of
you know people around the world in general are thinking the US has more poll than it's actually
um utilizing so I think you see that in domestic a
udiences you see that with Arab Americans um and
we see that a lot a lot of people around the world so any other thoughts on other tools that the US
could be using that is not in terms of Engagement with Israel you know I would say you know two
things on kind of the the the the tools one is that um you know obviously as a matter of policy
you know we support Israel's defense and um and and their right to defend themselves and obviously
Hamas has said they would you know commit the atrocitie
s they did on October 7th over again
they they have aspirations to continue to do that so obviously you want to make sure that Israel
um can defend itself but you know also having suffered through through the traumatic events of
October 7th that they have um it's quite clear that the Israeli government and the Israeli people
um support uh continuing uh these operations and regardless of of of of of of perhaps persuasion
and you know I think the president went out uh shortly after and I thin
k actually gave what
I thought was a very uh and particularly in hindsight a very apt appeal um which was to
to look at them to look at the United States reaction after 911 and to to understand that
you know the emotion and the trauma that you've gone through but to maybe learn from some of the
mistakes uh and the decisions that we made in the wake of 911 and Iraq and elsewhere that have you
know that have uh in hindsight um not done well for American Security and American reputation
aroun
d the world uh and you know I think that was a sage advice that the president offered but
to a certain extent would you just say that you know uh the Israeli government the Israeli people
uh have have have have sought um do not feel as though they have security and have sought to to
pursue a course of action that they believe will will provide them with their security um so in
terms of you know ability to kind of Le use tools of Leverage and and and and and persuasion we are
we are using th
e tools of Leverage and persuasion that we have believe we have available to us um
while also recognizing that we remain committed to helping them defend themselves uh and and and
and and and nonetheless working to push them to defend themselves in a way that lives up to their
commitments and obligations under humanitarian law and other irrational law um also a number of
questions regarding Ukraine and US engagement in foreign conflict uh two questions on Ukraine
that are interl someone in
the audience says how do I respond to political leaders and community
members who state that we need to spend money here at home first before we give Aid to Ukraine
and how critical is US support of Ukraine to the overall strength of the US and Global democracy um
I'll take I'll take them in the order that you ask them you know I think the strongest argument um
for on on on the financial side is that actually the way that we are supporting Ukraine right
now is spending money here at home um
so when when when when you hear a talk about kind of
the the armaments and other things that we are are providing to Ukraine um it can it can help to
understand a little bit about exactly what we're doing a lot of what we are doing under a so-called
draw down Authority is essentially taking things that we have in stock in our for our own military
and sending that over to Ukraine often you know uh certainly at the beginning of the war it was much
older Munitions kind of you know like tank s
hells and kind of lower um Tech lower technology uh
equipment and then the money is used to actually re-equip our own military with more modern uh
uh uh uh replacement parts and all of that those things are are are built here with by American
workers and American factories for the American Military uh and so actually you know a lot of the
money that we are spending on Ukraine is actually money that we are spending here but is actually
supporting the American economy here at home while also
modernizing our own military um and so
I think actually you know I would I would flip the argument some in some ways on the head which
is that um you know uh spending you know this support for Ukraine is is in many ways actually
a lot of it directly contributing to the American uh economy here in a way that of course is also
providing for Ukraine security um so it really is is is in many ways a win-win uh for us supporting
our jobs and our our military modernization while also giving Ukrain
e um the essential items that it
needs uh to to to repel Russia I think the other you know Financial argument on this is is gets
to the second part of the question which is um you know as the secretary said as the president
said as as as many people have said um you know if you think Vladimir Putin is going to be content
with part of eastern Ukraine or even the whole of Ukraine um think again uh and that you know even
the the the the ukrainians have just shown such an incredible fighting sp
irit and and dedication to
their sovereignty to their independence to their lives um that even even if you don't care about
the Ukrainian people which I hope I hope everyone does but uh even if you think about this in terms
of our own self-interest um you know it it will be so it will be it will be cheaper in terms
of American money in terms of American lives to uh to to to to arm the ukrainians to push
back against Russia then it will be wherever Putin decides to go at Moldova or heaven fo
rbid
one of our 31 other NATO allies uh and so just to say that you know if you're if the cost uh of
of supporting Ukraine pales in comparison to the cost of having to confront Putin's aggression
farther into Europe um so I think on the on the financial piece that is that is part of it which
is also just to say that um you know supporting Ukraine's Democratic aspirations um the the unity
that we have seen with Nat within NATO that has been sparked by what Putin has done I mean we just
last
week admitted uh Sweden as our as our 30 the 32nd member of NATO um the fins before that um the
US security posture the US security architecture is actually stronger now than it was before this
Invasion because I think it has jolted us a little bit out of uh uh a a notion that um we could uh
simply turn our eyes away from uh from Europe turn our eyes away from from some of these kind
of traditional geopolitical security challenges that you know maybe some had thought had been
kind of consi
gned to Cold War era dpin of History um I think what we've seen now is is a bit of an
Awakening to understand that um this is essential to us and to our security to the security of our
allies and to kind of the the the unity of the the Democratic World At Large uh to to make sure
that we confront this now and that we confront it in Ukraine uh before it spreads and so I think
that um seriousness of purpose that maybe had been had been lacking from NATO and from some of
our other alliances ha
s really been uh Putin has you know again this is why we talk in some ways
about Ukraine being a strategic defeat for Putin um he has facilitated everything in terms of
NATO solidarity Ukraine turning Westward other countries in Eastern Europe turning Westward
W to join the EU join NATO um he's facilitated everything that he said he was seeking to to
prevent uh and that is a huge benefit to American Security we need to seize that opportunity um to
to further enhance our security in the deca
des to come and if you don't stop him in Ukraine as you
said where does he go next MOA the baltics what is the signal Des send to the Chinese in terms
of Taiwan what happens in the Middle East it's all in link y yeah um let's see here I think that
we should probably go to Sarah Ward back at the Mansfield Center and go to questions that have
been posed live by our audience absolutely yes and I would just encourage people to continue
to use the Q&A feature um and if you have any questions let
us know but the first question
from our audience is how can we in the US avoid authoritarianism um okay so I will I will I will
strive to answer this question in a way that um is appropriate as a state department official
and does not get me in any trouble uh with our with our lawers here because obviously you know we
diplomats as the state department we're focused on things abroad but actually I think the question
comes at a really opportune time because actually just a few hours ago um s
ecretary blinkin took
off on a trip that's going to take him to Soul next week for the third Summit for democracy this
is a series that started uh two years ago in 2022 the United States hosted here last year uh kind
of co-hosted with a number of countries around the world and this year our Korean allies are
are hosting um and I think it's uh it it's an important Gathering because we are in the middle
of a democratic recession globally um countries that are democracies are are are under str
ain from
uh inter you know are at risk of of of coups and IL liberalism and kind of threats from within and
then you know having just talked about Putin and Ukraine uh having talked about China and the
threat to Taiwan there are of course uh uh you know revanchist revisionist powers in the world
who also POS an external threat to democracies and so in terms of the US um you know I think it
gets to kind of so much of the overarching theory of the case for the world that we have in this
depa
rtment right now um which is that you know we're so much better off when we don't go along
we're so much better off when we work with our allies and partners and I think that's so true
in democracy as well um our democracy is so much stronger when we are working so closely together
with our Democratic allies and partners and so I think the summit will be an important Gathering
because uh again we are all confronting uh maybe some unique threats in each of our own countries
uh unique challen
ges um but there are a lot of shared ones that we can work together on to help
um strengthen um collectively our resilience to those threats whether they're internal whether
they're external um I think particularly working together we can work to kind of neutralize some
of the uh external threats um but internally as well and and and you know I think it's it's
great that this Gathering is happening amongst governments obviously so much maybe in some
ways the most important part is the eleme
nt of it that's happening with civil society uh actors
who will be kind of part of the summit because uh there is of course a limit to what governments
can do to to to to sustain uh the Democratic way of life which is to say that you know I think
the the most important thing that anyone can do in any country to avoid authoritarianism is
to be civically engaged uh and I can imagine you know for for those who are tuning into this
conversation here you probably lean more on the side of more ci
vically engaged uh uh than average
sorry um and and so you know collectively when um you know when people are engaged at home and when
those people when those communities who are so engaged in our democracies work with each other
to find common solutions to some of these chair challenges um that that to me is kind of where
uh actually the real opportunity lies you know the government to government part is important
but the real Civil Society the People to People uh uh conversations about ho
w we strengthen our
democracies from within that is really the the the thing that gives me the most uh the most hope
in terms of um you know creating solidarity across uh across the Democratic World um so I think
you know I think not to put too much on any one Summit anyone meeting um but I think it's a really
opportune time for for folks to gather and and we were talking about it a little bit earlier but I
mean this is a big year for for democracies is a big year for elections more than co
untries that
represent more than half the world's population are are going to the polls this year obviously
the United States is is one of them we've seen elections in uh in Taiwan uh we've seen other
elections around the world um India a huge a huge part of the world's population will be heading the
polls this year obviously that includes some less than free and fair elections uh technically the
Russian presidential election will be happening this month uh I don't think we would put that
in the bucket of of democratic elections by any stretch of the imagination um but you know I I
think that is why this conversation in Sol is so important is because um we need our our our people
to be civically engaged we need our government to be talking about the shared challenges that
we face and the shared solutions that we can develop uh and that you know ultimately that
is going to be the best bullwark against the spread of authoritarianism the other thing I
will say is as you know ge
nerally less of a kind of state department specific but more as you
know someone in in in government now I think the challenge for all of us uh is to uh is to find
ways to make sure that that we demonstrate the ways in which democracies deliver um because
I think that is you know whether you know we whether again it is external threats whether it
is internal polarization or or paralysis a failure to to demonstrate that democracy can actually
still live for our people is really the thing tha
t's going to kind of sap energy from from from
the Democratic effort and so uh I think you know as a government official um and particularly as
a communicator particularly as one who's tasked with engaging the American people on what it is
that our Dem our our diplomacy is doing to deliver for people we need to make sure that we're doing
it better job of of telling that story to give people reason to believe that that a democracy
is still worth fighting for well it's interesting you say thi
s because um grab some water um I
was just uh listening to former Secretary of State cond rice talk about the importance of a
whole society approach to democracy and that in authoritarian countries where they take the whole
society approach of course it's much easier to do that in Russia in China but how do we take a
whole society approach here um because most Americans agree that we there are some essential
factors in a democracy that we hold dear you know there's the free market economy b
ut there's
that um that whole coming together um that representation that everything that we care about
in terms of our government so how do we take that social that full Society approach forward that's
what we're trying to do at the Mansfield Center in terms of our democracy and and public Outreach
programs um but I wonder if you could speak a little bit more to why the summit for democracy
is in Korea and maybe talk a little bit about the Endo Pacific strategy because I'm not sure
that a
lot of our audience is familiar with how essential the indopacific strategy has become
to our national security strategy yeah and so you know I think again we we K we you know we we
launched this uh this Summit and with the intent of It kind of being a series and and have looked
to other partners to kind of uh uh pick it up and of course um you know the Republic of Korea South
Korea is is an alies as an important partner for us uh in a particularly tough neighborhood um you
know they have
uh they have uh perhaps the least Democratic uh regime in the world uh just across
their Border in North Korea uh they have you know they have China uh in their backyard uh and they
have Russia uh uh on on on on another side um and so for small But Mighty country uh kind of with a
really tough neighborhood uh it's really important to kind of make sure that they are are are are are
an essential partner in kind of demonstrating the the value of this but to to your other question
uh on the you
know on the Pacific it's it's also um I mean that region is I don't want to say any
one region is more important in terms of democracy than any other um but you know it's no secret to
say that you know the the US China relationship is probably the most significant bilateral
relationship for the 21st century uh and the way that we've approached it is in so in so many ways
essential uh looks essentially at our alliances and Partnerships in that region uh and so they are
you know they are the
y are just you know they are such a lynchpin in in in the way that we view
uh that part of the world so it's it's really great that they are um bringing other democracies
around the world um it's also been really great the way that um uh despite uh uh histo many
historical difficulties certainly going back to World War II and Beyond um the way that you
know our two Northeast Asian allies the Republic of Korea and Japan also come together in the P
few years uh again even you know I was serve
d in the Obama Administration and that was at a time
when uh you know there was uh these long running historical debutes uh disputes over Comfort women
uh an issue of kind of Legacy issue of World War II um that that made it almost impossible for the
two countries to kind of even sometimes sit in the same room and talk to one another what we've seen
over the last few years is actually a remarkable shift uh in the relationship there um where we
are regularly convening kind of trilaterally th
e three countries together where they are having
their own kind of bilateral dialogues and working so closely because again you know they are the
two Democratic the two large Advanced Democratic bworks in the region uh that doesn't have uh
a whole lot to to look to and so you know when when when we can invest in those in in those
Partners when those allies become even stronger um that gives us uh even more ability to kind of
project power and project influence throughout a region that is uh
uh again the the focal point for
for our for our farm policy really uh throughout the 21st century uh and as you said you know it's
it's it's not just Northeast Asia it's the whole swap of the Indo Pacific going down to India and
Southeast Asia then going out through uh through the Pacific and I've had the opportunity in this
job to to to travel um a bit through southeast Asia and and and through the Pacific and one of
the things that has been most interesting uh for me to see has been a d
esire for us engagement
um you know countries with whom you know who still remember so Finly you know the United
States helping throw off the Yoke of Japanese imperialism in World War II um but who have kind
of felt as the United States has been a little bit absent for the last few decades and who just
want so badly to see more of the United States presence in the region and so obviously part of
that involves us being more present there but part of that involves us working so closely with
Japan Korea Australia New Zealand the Philippines uh other you know uh allies uh and close Partners
in the region but also involves us forming you know transformationally new relationships with
uh Partners like Vietnam uh who you know in in probably many of our viewers lifetimes we were
we were at war with um but who now we you know even though they have a you know a Communist
Regime uh even though we have those difficult historical ties with um is increasingly also
looking to the United St
ates as an economic partner uh and even as a security security partner
as well and so you know I think again this this the kind of Korea hosting the Summit is is is
a kind of small piece of this larger uh quilt that we are trying to weave uh throughout the
region of these really important Partnerships and allies that will help us assert our power
and influence over a region that will be again kind of the really the focal point for geopolitics
throughout the rest of the century well and it's
certainly an important region for Montana that we
have only two International Trade offices around the world one is in Taiwan one is in Japan and
Kumamoto our sister prefecture there um at the same time this is a focus of the Mansfield
Center that Mike Mike mansfi was the longest serving US ambassador to Japan at the time he
famously said that the US Japan relationship is the most important in the world Baran um Japan
continues to be an important partner for the United States I know the Pr
ime Minister will be
coming here to Washington next month um and it's something that's been important for the Mansfield
Center that uh at the state department you have something called the Young Southeast Asian leaders
initiative recognizing that 60% of Southeast Asia um are under the that people are under the ages
of 35 so the Manfield Center is the only place in the country that supports both the academic
Fellowship ship bringing youth ages 18 to 25 to Montana but also the professional Fe
llowship
bringing people ages 25 to 35 and looking at how we develop so Civil Society in these countries
so bringing people to partner together with people in Montana but throughout the RO Mountain West in
public health rule of law education and just some of these critical aspects of a whole society
approach the Democracy no absolutely and it's I mean I I hope some uh folks tun in here had
the opportunity to meet with some of the part some of the participants in these programs without
a do
ubt always for me the most inspiring part of any foreign trip that I've undertaken in this
job has been the opportunity to meet with our exchange participants in our exchange alumni um
because you know they have they are so incredibly smart so incredibly motivated they you know I
mean largely speaking our exchange alumni you know we have 30 plus Nobel Prize winners 400 plus
you know heads of state or leaders um just you know the people who go through these programs
are are truly the Future
Leaders of the world and the great thing about them is because of the
experiences they get to have in Montana at the Mansfield Center uh and and and and elsewhere
um not only do they you know pick up the skills that they need to kind of go back and help L their
country but they pick up such an appreciation for and often they love the United States that they
keep with them and carry with them for the rest of their lives because they know they appreciate
so much what they got out of that expe
rience and and for us and for our foreign policy what
an incredible investment in in our future in you know our our reputation and and and in our
opportunities to have such a Cadre of important powerful people who had formative experiences in
places like Missoula well and when Foreign Affairs is less than 1% of the federal budget the impact
that these relationships have in bolstering our national security is is really outsized so Sarah
I'll go back to you for more questions from the audienc
e absolutely so we have had quite a bit of
Interest specifically in the impacts of AI and so our audience has a couple questions for you about
artificial intelligence first they are curious about what the impacts of artificial intelligence
are on our Foreign Affairs and secondly they're curious if artificial intelligence so images
text photos um if that could pose a threat to our Democratic processes both really great questions
both questions I spend a lot of time thinking about uh but also
both questions that you know 10
years ago he probably would have scoffed at um but I have to say one of those people who wouldn't
have is uh is thankfully currently our secretary of state um when he was here a decade ago and
was deputy secretary of state I I worked for him and we started up something called The Innovation
Forum which was basically meant to connect State Department our policy experts here with academic
institutions public policy Institute private sector actors basally peopl
e in The Innovation
space who were working on issues that might not have been in 2014 15 16 you know foreign policy
issues but that we knew kind of looking around the corner it was only a matter of time until they
were and so it was everything from you know micro satellites being used in for arms control regimes
uh cryptocurrencies being used for sanctions evasions uh and one of the last kind of sessions
that we had was actually on AI and disinformation uh and so it's actually kind of remar
kable in
some way to kind of look back at a lot of the issues that we were talking about that seemed
maybe far out or almost even kind of sci-fi um but that now 10 years less than 10 years later are
the reality in which we are living perhaps more so than we ever could have imagined they would
be and so we're wrestling with with this a lot um and and fortunately had a little bit of a of a
head start and and you know one of the the things that I think has really helped us in terms of the
way
that we are thinking about this diplomatically is that um now actually I guess next month
that'll be two years ago um we we created a new part of our Organization for anyone who's
ever served in government there's nothing harder to do in a bureaucracy like ours than to create
a new uh you know part of uh of the organization but we created a new Bureau called the Cyber
digital policy Bureau because what secretary recognized is that we needed diplomats who were
able to engage in Tech diploma
cy to help shape the rules of the road for things like AI Quantum
Computing uh semiconductors um that we're going to Define so much of the next de of our foreign
policy but we just we literally didn't have the expertise the capacity to do that um and so now
for almost two years we we we have had um some you know Tech diplomats and we are you know we're
developing new programs to train our colleagues in the field to kind of understand some of these
Cutting Edge Tech issues um uh we've worked
with the The Croc Institute at Purdue um to kind of
actually come up with a training program um to help uh help our help actually get the actual Tech
skills um in our diplomacy we're recruiting quite heavily not just you know the kind of political
science and and social science and and arts and science Majors like I was coming into the state
department increasingly we're also trying to recruit engineers and others with the technical
expertise so that if we're trying to you know shape an in
ternational agreement we actually need
someone who understands under the hood what this will actually do whether it'll achieve the thing
that we want to achieve and so we're starting to move things forward on this quite quite quickly
um we have uh you know right now um uh a proposal before the United Nations on responsible use of
AI that I think I hope in the coming days will be adopted unanimously um and you know for anything
in the UN system to get adopted unanimously that takes a lot of
hard work and a lot of and a lot of
creativity um but one of the things we're trying to do is really kind of set the rules of the road
so that countries around the world are developing AI are developing Tools around AI in a way that
you know is responsible is open Democratic and and that kind of lives up to the values that we
try and uh uh live up to ourselves and and and and and spread around the world and so I think um you
know we are we we're really focused on again kind of as we are try
ing to figure out domestically
in the United States what our regulations and our rules and our guard rails are going to look like
around AI um that we can't simply afford to wait for us to come into all of those decisions before
we leave the rest of the world uh in the direction that we want to go because if we don't someone
else will and if someone else does maybe they won't have the same values the same aspirations
uh that that that that that we do so I think in the International Space wh
ere it's it's it's uh
we've been we've been moving quite quickly but the issue of kind of um you know uh deep fakes
disinformation the larger issue of information integrity and and what we call in our par content
Providence um is is something I'm particularly focused on as a as a communicator because we we
live in the digital space where all of this is happening uh and so one of the things that we are
trying to to to Really put um that kind of some real firm rules around that falls into tha
t larger
conversation about responsible use is labeling of synthetic content labeling of AI uh generated
content and the Norms around that as well as the tools to detect uh content that is that is AI
generated that has not been uh been appropriately labeled because um you know it's we're already
you know we've already seen domestically here you know Robo calls using deep fake audio
that have been meant to kind of try and sway elections uh globally uh Taiwan elections we saw
um AI deployed
I think in this year of Elections we're going to see a lot of of of AI tools being
used sometimes in in good and creative ways that will you know rally people and and connect with
people in meaningful ways but also in in in in nefarious and and and and bad ways and so as we
again as we are trying to domestically understand okay what are the regulations we can put in
place on AI tools and AI Technologies to make sure that there is some kind of water marking or
identification that it's AI cre
ated we also need to be leading the rest of the world and coming
up with those exact same exact same tools and so that's actually um something the department
has a leading role in a US Government task force that came out of a White House Executive Order uh
that we are trying to figure out what does that International kind of set of principles look like
that will make sure um that we are kind of setting the highest standards possible to give people
confidence that if they are seeing somethin
g that purports to be real or true that it is uh
but I think long term the other piece of this is that um yes we need to come up with these rules
we need to come up with these regulations but we also need to come up with um you know kind of
data and digital literacy that will help people be able to identify you know where something
doesn't quite seem right about something how can they how can they learn for themselves whether
okay is this is this you know AI generated is this a deep fake is
this inauthentic or is it actually
something that is real uh and so I think long term there's also a a global capacity building piece
of this through our Exchange program uh through other uh tools that that we have that we're also
trying to build in terms of kind of our resilience and literacy to deal with this challenge well
speaking of creating new organizations and also the challenges of Technology U state department
created the China House last year can you talk a little bit about what
the China House is and what
your top priorities are for engagement with China so uh China House or our China coordination uh
uh Team here essentially recog izes that you know the US China relationship the US CH you know
the US China issue at large is more than just a bilateral relationship uh it's more than just
kind of it's bigger it's bigger than that it's a it's a global context the global competition
and so what what what the kind of construct that we have built recognizes is that you
know our
normal structure of kind of you know you have a China office and you know they have various
little components to it but it's very focused on us China relations was insufficient to the tasking
uh we needed teams that were yes focused on the US China bilateral relationship but that were also
focused on China around the world that are also kind of focused on China and the public diplomacy
and the messaging sphere understanding you know what is what the what the Chinese are doing in
t
erms of malign influence and disinformation and you know undermining uh the information
ecosystem around the world um that are that are focused on E on economics and so basically
bringing together a bunch of different part of our institution all under one house um so that
they can kind of be collocated and talk together and to make sure that when we are you know talking
about our China policy or we were talking about the China Challenge um that we're doing it in
a really holistic 360 whole
world approach not just a true kind of traditional us China Beijing
Washington uh uh approach and so the Hope here is that um you know we will be faster more Nimble
uh more interdisciplinary and again more kind of globally connected because uh you know whether it
is you know um uh you know kind of PRC debt leaden infrastructure throughout Africa or disinformation
throughout uh the Indo Pacific uh or you know um kind of some of the malign economic uh activity
that we see uh in in in Europe a
nd even in the Western Hemisphere um you know where they have
kind of been applying pressure to kind of some of taiwan's remaining allies to try and flip their
uh their their recognition um it's a global issue and it's it's it's a political issue it's an
economic issue and so we need to make sure that our institution is actually recognizing all of
the dimensions of the challenge and so that that our hope is our hope is that um that this that
this will do exactly that and make sure that you
know again as we are implementing our our our
invest align compete China policy of investing in ourselves here at home aligning more closely
with our allies and partners and then competing on a Level Playing Field uh with China that we
will in that competition um but I think it was just generally speaking a recognition that the
traditional ways of organizing ourselves here in this particular bureaucracy um just weren't
going to be up to uh up to the this kind of Novel Global task that we we
re faced with well great
well Sarah I have another question but should we go back to you for one more question from the
audience absolutely yeah we can we have time for one more question um we've had several questions
about the role of the state department in shaping immigration policy um and I'm hoping that you can
speak to that sure so I mean immigration policy in terms of you know uh uh visas and kind of some
elements of that are are are are ghs matter but in terms of kind of you know pa
rticularly uh
Regional migration here uh uh uh in the Western Hemisphere um but also kind of uh global migration
uh challenges there's a really key part that our diplomacy plays um so I'll start kind of with
the regional uh piece of which is that you know obviously um you know record numbers of of people
uh coming to our our Southern border um globally you're seeing you know massive disruptions uh
and migration flows really the largest since World War II that we've um that we've seen and
s
o part of the state Department's job is to work with countries all around the world um to number
one of course address some of the root causes of migration uh disrupt some of the disruptions that
happened including you know climate change that's driving it conflict that is driving it uh of
course even even still some of the disruptions from covid uh that are really uh you know drivers
of of migration around the world those root causes a lot of them uh get to our diplomacy and and it's
our j
ob to kind of seek ways to address them to you know reduce the the the some of the the push
factors that drive people to to to leave their home and and and seek a better life elsewhere um
but you know with with the numbers we're seeing throughout the Western Hemisphere coming up to
Mexico one of the other things that we have been working on um are Regional Solutions um right
what are things that we can do to give people opportunities um uh without having to undertake
that long dangerous and
expensive journey to get here in the first place one of the things that
we've developed is is what we call safe mobility offices so essentially um for people who you know
who who have an asylum claim who want to make an asylum claim right now you have to present
yourself at the Border in order to actually present that claim we've opened up kind of pilot
offices in partnership with un organizations throughout the region itself in Central and South
America that that basically say hey come he
re instead present your claim you you will have your
Asylum claim heard and and if you have a valid Asylum claim then you can come present yourself
and and and be be entered into the United States um but you don't have to undertake all of that
journey and you can still stay we working with our partners to give Colombia in particular um you
know to give work permits so that when you know people are in Colombia have presented their Asylum
claim they can stay and find work there while they wai
t to have it um to to have it adjudicated and
so that you know prevents you know number one that prevents you know the the large numbers of of
people feeling that they need to to come to the Border but it also kind of uh undermines the the
trafficking networks that you know that make so much money off of their desperation in the first
place which kind of also gets again to some of these uh to some of these root causes um so that
is just kind of one of the tools that that we have uh that we
have been working on and then of course
one of the other tools is uh uh is is looking at humanitarian parole and other programs that are
available to us particularly from populations from countries like Haiti like Venezuela uh
and others uh where you know uh where where people have family and otherwise you know have
have contacts and resources here in the United States where for humanitarian purposes we can
par them in uh give them work permits that they need to you know to be able to to to
work while
their larger Asylum claims are heard there and so part of what we have what we have been trying
to do is is using our diplomacy using our our our relationships around the region and around the
world um to try and alleviate some of the pressure at the border and also alleviate some of the root
causes that that push people to to kind of pick up and want to flee their homes in the first place
and you know I think it's one of the things we hear time and time again particularly here
in the
Western Hemisphere uh is is corruption corruption is really at the root of this because corruption
leads to people having security concerns they don't feel safe at home and Corruption also leads
to a lack of Economic Opportunity um and so you know that is the other kind of root cause piece
that we are really focused on here is how can we you know through use of punitive sanctions to
go after corrupt officials uh through kind of carrots to try and and encourage you know uh uh
anti-co
rruption actors um to kind of make their societies more resilient against corruption uh
that is also one of the other important things the state department works to do uh certainly in
the Western Hemisphere really all around the world um to to to kind of address those root causes so
that that is that is the piece of the the the the the migration challenge that is uh that is uh
that is State Department piece well and I love that the man Center can be part of that as well
through the Bureau o
f educational and cultural Affairs we have a sports diplomacy program where
we support populations in the Dominican Republic muras uh Guatemala El Salvador using sport as
a way to support youth populations and also bringing delegations up to Montana um to look at
how they can can bolster that the youth Brazilian as well so so we are at time I just want to ask
one last question you talked a little bit about recruiting how you bring people into the state
department you talked about having a m
ore you know diverse approach to um looking at the United
States how do members of our audience get involved in the Foreign Service that's one final audience
question that we have um you know I think I mean uh can speak to the Foreign Service piece of it
but I think actually one of the things I would I would start even by zooming farther out say
that there are so many ways to to to join the state department to have an opportunity to serve
um you know we we have actually just met with the cu
rrent uh crop of state department interns
today we now have paid internships um that opens the door to so many people and when I say paid
yes you get an hourly salary but the internship also pays for your housing here for students
uh and then also pays for the the flight to and from and so you know that opens the doors as
someone who who started my career in Washington as an unpaid intern you know blowing through
all of my savings account and merely maxing out my credit card um you know to
to have that
opportunity without having to kind of tap into that um is is is incredible so we're trying to
you know open up that pipeline to come in um we have incredible fellowships Pickering Wrangle uh
a Clark Fellowship a new Colin Powell Fellowship that targets kind of underrepresented communities
um that give people uh an opportunity to kind of again you know get in the door here uh and then
kind of assess what opportunities are available to them um if you know if you want to be a Fore
ign
Service Officer if you want to go and and travel around the world and represent the United States
America that is that is that is more than a job that is kind of a that that is a lifestyle
and and a calling and those you know those opportunities are are are are are are really
great we've actually had some of the largest incoming classes of Foreign Service officers in
the last decade just in the last nine months um so we are recruiting quite heavily uh and we're
actually also again tryi
ng to reduce some of the barriers to entry uh we are um making now a
virtual option for the oral exams uh which you know again a kind of barrier to entry for people
has been you had to you know be able to afford to fly to Washington on your own dime and and stay
in Washington for this uh part of the exam process but now you have created a virtual option that
again lowers the financial barrier to to to to applying to that um but if you if you want to be
part of this Mission but you don't nec
essarily uh uh want to kind of live abroad or be changing your
location every 1 two three years um we also have an incredible amount of civil service positions
uh and that includes our passport offices all around the country um one of the one of the one
of the largest federal law enforcement agencies is actually our Diplomatic Security Agency um
that also has offices all around this country because not only do uh does Diplomatic Security
protect our uh diplomats abroad they also uh help pro
tect foreign uh uh embassies and consulates
uh and missions here in the United States uh and so there are an incredible amount of domestic
opportunities available um but again um I think so many people look if you've got a political science
history and English degree like I do that's still the bread and butter of the state department
we still want you to to to come here and work um but if you have an engineering background
a public health background science a biology background maybe in a f
ield that you wouldn't
think oh the state department what does the state department want with me let me tell you the
state department wants you um because the issue said that we're working on requires having that
expertise and requires having that knowledge um and if you're not a college student if you're
not someone who's you know in school right now or fresh out of school maybe you've you've been
in a career for five 10 even 15 years um there are also lateral entry opportunities even in t
he
Foreign Service now available um for you to come and have a really meaningful career here and so
just to say that also uh even if even if your you know your college days have passed you by it's
still not too late um to join the state department and so careers.state.gov that is that is that
is the website where you can go deep on all of these different Pathways all of these different
pipelines all these other opportunities to serve at home and abroad um there there really are so
many dif
ferent ways that people can be a part of the mission that we have here well Bill thank
you thank you for your time today thanks for your service to our democracy um thanks to our
audience for joining us uh our next Mansfield event will be with Danielle Allen a nationally
recognized democracy expert that is in person at the University of Montana um and thank
you again for joining us good night thank you
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