Improving multilateral cooperation by updating

our approach to multilateral diplomacy

The United States cannot and should not shoulder the burden of the range of transnational threats and challenges facing the international community alone. It is imperative that we partner with other countries, enlist their support, and expect that they shoulder their share

of the burden. That burden-sharing is facilitated by a strong relationship with states that share our interests, U.S. leadership in global institutions like the United Nations and IFIs, and a pragmatic approach to scores of multilateral institutions and agreements. We must both strengthen our ability to address issues of shared concern across multiple bilateral relationships and, working with others, reform and reshape institutions so that they are ef- fective; address issues that matter; foster hard work, not grandstanding; and deliver tangible results. And we must enter into multilateral agreements that advance our security, prosper- ity, and values. To strengthen our multilateral diplomacy and reform international institu- tions we will:

• Strengthen the capacity of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs Multilateral diplomacy is a specialized skill set that allows us to advance American interests across a wide range of multilateral organizations. We must expand the ranks of diplomats skilled in multilateral diplomacy and improve the links between our multilateral and bilateral diplomacy, especially with respect to our engagement with the United Nations.

¾ _{Multilateral diplomats must both maintain relationships with international}

organizations themselves and mobilize member-states to support our priorities in those organizations. Given the critical importance of both functions, they must be independently staffed such that dedicated, accountable diplomats at State or at our Missions in the field can independently engage with interna- tional organizations themselves and mobilize the votes we need to advance

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, speaks with women leaders before a town hall meeting at the National and University Library in Pristina, Kosovo on Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010.

our agenda. We will work to enhance our multilateral staffing consistent with these needs.

¾ _{As other multilateral organizations develop over time, we will continue to}

examine our institutional structures for engaging with them, better link our multilateral diplomats with the functional experts who lead our engagement with specialized multilateral organizations, and, where appropriate, transfer responsibilities to the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.

• Support and strengthen the United States Mission to the United Nations The United Nations is unique among all multilateral institutions, given its universal membership and expansive policy remit. And within the United Nations and international system, the U.N. Security Council plays a unique and indispensable role in responding to threats to the maintenance of international peace and security. To elevate our engagement at the United Nations and, in particular, the U.N. Security Council, we will:

¾ _{Recognize the importance of the Security Council and ensure the most senior}

representation. The President has elevated the U.S. Representative to the United Nations to the rank of a member of the President’s Cabinet, as has been the case from time to time in the past. Secretary Clinton has represented the United States at the Security Council on key issues. President Obama has personally represented the United States at the Security Council on issues of the very highest priority, such as a critical discussion of nuclear non-prolifera- tion. On issues of the most significant policy priority, we will make such high level engagement part of our multilateral diplomacy at the U.N.

• Elevate multilateral affairs in regional bureaus and better link multilateral diplomacy with our regional and functional priorities

Effective multilateral diplomacy demands close linkages between our efforts in multilateral institutions, our regional priorities, and our bilateral relationships with member states. To elevate multilateral affairs in regional bureaus and strengthen critical links between multilateral diplomacy and regional and functional priorities, we will:

¾ _{Make the multilateral expertise and skills of the Bureau for International Orga-}

nization Affairs available to our Missions to regional organizations. Achieving results in regional organizations requires expertise in multilateral diplomacy.

ADAPTING TO THE DIPLOMATIC LANDSCAPE OF THE 21ST _CENTURY

The experience and expertise of the Bureau of International Organization Af- fairs can help our Missions to regional organizations advance our objectives. Improved communication and interaction between Missions to regional or- ganizations and the Bureau of International Organization Affairs will further facilitate coordination of our regional and multilateral diplomacy.

¾ _{Assign the multilateral and regional portfolios in regional bureaus to the Prin-}

cipal Deputy Assistant Secretary of those bureaus. Directors of regional affairs offices within those bureaus will be given responsibility for multilateral initia- tives and routine coordination with the Bureau of International Organization Affairs and the Washington office of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

¾ _{Link functional policy goals and multilateral diplomacy by ensuring the Bureau}

of International Organization Affairs has the senior level capacity in the front office to define and implement strategic goals in key multilateral policy areas, coordinate multilateral engagement, and build support for U.S. initiatives across regional and functional bureaus, as illustrated by the recently established Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Rights, Humanitarian, and Social Af- fairs in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.

¾ _{Convene, under the auspices of the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, the}

Directors of regional affairs offices within the regional bureaus, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Organization Af- fairs, and an appropriate representative of the Washington Office of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations on a regular basis to synchronize multilateral and bilateral policymaking.