DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER MEETS WITH THE AMIR OF KUWAIT

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Right:  Defense Secretary Ash Carter, left, meets with the Amir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah in Kuwait City, Kuwait, Feb. 23, 2015. DoD photo by Glenn Fawcett.  

Carter Thanks Kuwait's Leaders for Strategic Partnership
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2015 – In Kuwait, Defense Secretary Ash Carter expressed U.S. appreciation for the strategic partnership between the United States and Kuwait during his meetings with His Highness Amir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Khalid al-Jarrah al-Sabah, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement issued today.

Appreciation for Strategic Partnership

Carter also expressed his thanks for Kuwait's willingness to host U.S. and coalition forces in support of military operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Kirby said in the statement.

The leaders also discussed their shared commitment to continue the two nations' close security cooperation during Carter’s leadership of the defense department, Kirby said.

Afghanistan, Middle East Visit

The meetings come at the end of the defense secretary’s first week in office, the admiral said, during which he made it a priority to travel to Afghanistan and the Middle East.

VALENTINE'S DAY EXPORTS

FROM:  U.S. IMPORT-EXPORT BANK
Made-in-New York (Valentine Edition): Small Business Love & Quiches Exports Delicious Desserts Around the Globe
Company Was Able to Add 25 Jobs Thanks to Export-Import Bank Support

Washington, D.C. – Thanks to financing extended by the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) - and with apologies to ‘60s British Invasion band The Troggs - Love & Quiches is all around.

Started in Susan Axelrod's kitchen in 1973, Love & Quiches sells quiches and desserts to customers all around the world, particularly in the Middle East and Asia. The business outgrew the kitchen, a garage, a local storefront, and its first factory, and now operates out of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Freeport, N.Y. With private export financing options unavailable, in 2005 Love & Quiches found its perfect match with Ex-Im Bank—and they’ve been together ever since.

“Ex-Im Bank stands ready to support even more New York small businesses like Love & Quiches as they add jobs at home by increasing sales overseas,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “In FY 2014 alone, Ex-Im Bank supported $574.4 million in New York small business exports, which accounts for 45 percent of Ex-Im supported exports from the state.”      

Like many small businesses, Love & Quiches relies upon lines of credit and other forms of working capital to finance and grow its business. Ex-Im Bank's small business Export Credit Insurance, backed by the U.S. government, provided the reassurance needed for Wells Fargo Bank to embrace Love & Quiches, advancing funds against the company's foreign receivables and improving its cash flow.

“None of our export business would have been possible without our longstanding partnership with Ex-Im Bank, and we are honored to have received the Ex-Im Bank Small Business Exporter of the Year 2014 Award,” said Susan Axelrod, chairwoman and founder.

Love & Quiches’ export volume increases year after year as the company continues to expand globally. Exports are approaching almost 25 percent of the company’s total volume, and as a result Love & Quiches has added approximately 25 production jobs to their employee roll. The company is flirting with even greater expansion, targeting a 10 percent increase in export sales for FY 2015.

READOUTS: SECRETARY HAGEL'S MEETINGS WITH GEORGIAN MINISTER OF DEFENSE AND ITALIAN DEFENSE MINISTER

FROM:  THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT S
Release No: NR-037-15
February 05, 2015
Readout of Secretary Hagel's meetings with the Georgian Minister of Defense Mindia Janelidze

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met in Brussels today with Georgian Minister of Defense Mindia Janelidze. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the NATO Defense Ministerial conference being held here.

Secretary Hagel thanked the president for his leadership and for the contributions Georgia continues to make in Afghanistan and other peacekeeping missions, as well as to coalition efforts against ISIL in Iraq.

The secretary stressed the United States' commitment to helping improve Georgia's interoperability and readiness, a process that will be greatly enhanced by continued institutional reform in the Georgian government.

The two leaders also discussed the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. They reviewed efforts by allies and partners in the region to reinforce our international commitments and to continue to apply diplomatic and economic pressure on Moscow.

Secretary Hagel reaffirmed the importance of the U.S. partnership with Georgia, and pledged to continue our strong defense cooperation.


Release No: NR-038-15
February 05, 2015
Readout of Secretary Hagel's meeting with Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti.

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary Hagel met in Brussels today with Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the NATO Defense Ministerial conference being held here.

Secretary Hagel thanked Minister Pinotti for her leadership and for the contributions Italy continues to make to the alliance and in Afghanistan, as well as to coalition operations in Iraq.

He praised the minister's efforts to help our two militaries maintain a strong defense relationship, as well as Italy's efforts to work closely with other NATO allies across many missions and operations.

The two leaders also discussed a host of regional security issues, including Russia's continued aggression inside Ukraine, the threat posed by ISIL in the Middle East and recent instability in North Africa and the Levant.

Minister Pinotti thanked Secretary Hagel for his leadership as he prepares to leave office, and both leaders reaffirmed the importance of renewed focus by the NATO alliance to address both continental and global security challenges.

SECRETARY KERRY, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTER MAKE REMARKS AFTER MEETING

FROM:  THE STATE DEPARTMENT 
02/02/2015 01:34 PM EST
Remarks With Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah After Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
February 2, 2015

SECRETARY KERRY: Good afternoon. My very real pleasure to welcome Dr. Khalid al-Attiyah, the foreign minister of Qatar, here and my friend. We have worked very, very hard together on any number of issues, and I appreciate the many ways in which Qatar, the emir, and Dr. Attiyah have made themselves available in order to be of assistance. Most recently, they were particularly helpful with respect to Yemen and our efforts in the last few days to deal with some of the adjustments necessary to what has been happening there, and we’re grateful for that help.

We also find in Qatar a very strong partner in the anti-Daesh coalition, and we’re grateful for the role they have played. They are flying missions. They are engaged in helping with the foreign fighters effort, the counter-financing, the problem of messaging, the de-legitimization. So in every respect – we just had a meeting in London – they are a significant contributing partner to that effort.

We also have important growing both economic and cultural links and ties, which we look forward to talking about today and, obviously, expanding. But as a member of the GCC and an important partner with respect to the entire Middle East region, we’re grateful for the help that Qatar has been willing to provide. And I look forward to discussing some very difficult regional issues that we are currently working on together, and we obviously look forward to always strengthening not just our relationship but the ability of the region to live in peace and stability.

So Khalid, thank you for being here today.

FOREIGN MINISTER AL-ATTIYAH: Thank you, John, and good afternoon, everybody. I’m really happy to be here today, John, as most of the things as you have touched on, and it’s a good opportunity that we meet today and discuss all our bilateral and update each other on the situation of the region and exchange our ideas and thoughts, and I hope that we can have a fruitful meeting as usual, John, touching on the hot issue of the region as well.

Thank you, everybody, again. Thank you very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Looking forward to it. Thank you all very much, appreciate it. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY'S STATEMENT ON DEATH OF KING ABDULLAH OF SAUDI ARABIA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 22, 2015

This is a sad day. The United States has lost a friend, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, and the world has lost a revered leader. King Abdullah was a man of wisdom and vision. I loved my visits with him as a Senator and as Secretary. Even as he battled age and illness, he held on to his sense of determination. His stories of his father and of his family were remarkable. He was so proud of the Kingdom’s journey, a brave partner in fighting violent extremism who proved just as important as a proponent of peace. The courageous Arab Peace Initiative that he sponsored remains a critical document for the goal we shared of two states, Israel and Palestine, living in peace and security. He also made great strides to invest in the Saudi people, and the Kingdom’s infrastructure and economic development. The scholarship program that bears his name represents an enormous, far-sighted contribution to Saudi Arabia’s future prosperity. I know he was very proud of his role as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and as leader of his people.

Teresa and I send our condolences to the family of King Abdullah and to the people of Saudi Arabia and the region.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MITOV

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks With Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov After Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Sofia, Bulgaria
January 15, 2015

FOREIGN MINISTER MITOV: (Via interpreter) Dear Mr. Secretary, dear colleagues, for me it was an honor to host the official visit of the State Secretary of the United States John Kerry in Bulgaria. Today, we reaffirmed our strong strategic partnership between the two countries and we adopted the joint statement for the media, which is at your disposal already.

A few words on the achieved agreements. Strengthening our cooperation in the field of security and defense, energy security and diversification, rule of law, education, people-to-people ties, including by creating joint working groups, is a strong message for the strength and resilience of our relations. Our strategic partnership, our common democratic values, the high-level dialogue, and the excellent cooperation, Bulgaria treasures this highly.

In response to the challenges and changes in the geopolitical environment caused by the conflict in the Ukraine and the growing terrorist threat from the Middle East, we – our efforts in this area will contribute to improving the situation in the region and globally.

We also reaffirmed our efforts for expanding NATO, including the countries from the West Balkans in the NATO alliance, and Bulgaria will be the guarantor. The support of the U.S. in modernizing our military and the implementation of the NATO Readiness Action Plan will increase the security of the eastern borders of (inaudible) and the entire region.

Energy security is also of key importance. Our common goal is to attract investments to guarantee supply and distribution, as well as to build interconnectivity with neighboring countries.

Among the major areas in our collaboration is our effort to expand our trade and economic relations, including goods turnover and attracting new American investments in Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s potential in ICT, machine building, and other sectors will help her to attract more investments from the United States, especially in high-tech productions and in services with high added value. This topic is not only bilateral; it is also within the transatlantic relations. And here I ought to mention the TTIP and our support for the constructive negotiations between the EU and the United States on signing this agreement.

The connection – the ties between Bulgaria and law enforcement and security institutions and bodies are also on the rights, and then cooperation in combating human traffic, drug traffic, cyber crime, et cetera.

Bulgaria and the United States will also work on the people-to-people ties, on removing the visa regime for Bulgarian people. Mr. Secretary, I hope that your visit has shown you that Bulgaria is a good friend of – and a good ally of the United States, and we will continue our work for improving the situation in the region, in Europe, and globally.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Daniel, thank you very much. I’m appreciative to the foreign minister, to Minister Mitov, for his very warm welcome here at the foreign ministry. And I’m thankful to him for refueling me with a very good lunch.

I’m appreciative also for the good conversation that we had. I’m not going to repeat everything that I said earlier with the prime minister, and I’m not going to repeat everything that Daniel just said in an excellent summary of our discussion. So he has pretty fully described to all of you the breadth of our relationship and the importance of the United States-Bulgaria partnership and friendship. And it is a friendship, and it is a partnership.

And I want to emphasize that we had a broad discussion at the luncheon. I asked a lot of questions. I particularly was educated about the constitution, the constitutional process, the political process, and of course the judiciary, and the reform initiative, which this government is committed to, which is so important to the ability of Bulgaria to be able to attract capital investment and to be able to make the progress that everybody hopes for.

It’s obviously no secret that the transatlantic community is facing a lot of challenges at this point in time, and the job of creating a Europe that is whole and free and at peace is not a finished job at all. So we are focused on how to make the most progress as fast as possible in this important partnership in order to meet the challenges that we face head on. And it is clear that both the United States and Bulgaria are absolutely committed to investing in the sources of our strength, and that means in a strong, clean, and accountable judiciary, in democratic institutions, but also in our citizens, because in the end it’s the citizens who define a country.

We believe that, on energy security, particularly, there is a very important economic and security priority that we intend to follow up on in the serious ways that I talked about earlier. And we also are very committed to helping to protect Bulgaria’s very rich cultural heritage. The United States is already helping to restore the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Nessebar, and we’ve also increased the size of the Bulgarian Fulbright program for exchanges of students.

But one of the things that we talked about at lunch is the value of tourism and the newly created tourism bureau – or tourism ministry here in Bulgaria, which is an opportunity to really focus on an area that could provide enormous revenue increase, expand the economy, and also strengthen Bulgaria, as well as promote Bulgaria on an international basis.

So there’s a lot of homework to do. We’re particularly going to follow up on the economic front, on the energy front, and we laid out in a communique to everybody a pretty good summary of the new working groups and the new initiatives that we’re going to engage in.

So for me, this has been a very productive visit. I’m glad to have been able to come here, and I look forward to returning sometime in the future, when together we can announce specific progress on some of the plans that we laid today.

So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Foreign Minister, for your welcome. Thank you to the president and the prime minister. Thank you to the people of Bulgaria for their friendship and partnership. And thank you so much for the work that Bulgaria has done to help to deal with international crises from Afghanistan to Iraq to ISIL, and continuing to do in their own neighborhood. We appreciate it very much. It is the mark of a strong and important country when they are as engaged as Bulgaria is today.

Thank you very much.

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT LOOKS BACK AT 2014

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
A Look Back at 2014
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
December 31, 2014

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The holiday season and the end of the year is a chance to reflect on the past and look ahead to the New Year. The year 2014 opened with a set of terrible conflicts raging – including wars in Syria, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. These civil wars are characterized by indiscriminate violence and attacks on innocent civilians, as combatants flout widely accepted norms and principles. In June, UNHCR announced that more people were forcibly displaced by the end of 2013 – as refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced people – than at any time since World War II.

And then summer brought more bad news and a longer list of tragedies. ISIL’s attacks spread terror across Iraq. Bloody conflict in areas of southeastern Ukraine bordering Russia displaced hundreds of thousands of lives and left thousands dead. Fighting broke out between Hamas and Israel, unaccompanied Central American children arrived in record numbers at the United States’ southern border, and Africa faced the worst Ebola epidemic in history.

Despite this daunting list, humanitarians and supporters of humanitarian causes can take pride in what we have achieved. Aid groups that faced every conceivable obstacle – donor fatigue, staffing shortages, impassable roads, blockades and attacks –still found ways to keep millions of people alive. Humanitarians managed to stave off a man-made famine in South Sudan and to bring aid to besieged cities in Syria. Throughout the Middle East, a vaccination campaign that has reached 25 million children has helped contain the spread of polio.

The United States led the world’s humanitarian efforts by again serving as top donor. With the support of lawmakers from both parties, the State Department and USAID together provided more than $6 billion in humanitarian assistance this year. U.S. contributions powered the work of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the World Food Program, UNICEF, and other leading aid agencies. We also played a role in encouraging other nations to give, some made large donations to UN agencies for the first time. Kuwait organized a second international pledging conference for the Syria crisis that Secretary Kerry attended and gave generously itself. And Saudi Arabia stepped in at a critical moment with significant support for Iraq.

The leaders of UN and other humanitarian organizations called attention to the world’s crises and worked assiduously to mount and mobilize effective responses. Aid workers on the front lines showed professionalism and valor, even as they saw colleagues murdered by terrorists and felled by Ebola.

Countries that took in refugees deserve credit for keeping their borders open as the numbers of refugees climbed. Their hospitality saved countless lives and involved true acts of generosity. The massive influx of Syrian refugees in the Middle East is weighing heavily on communities where people are poor and housing and jobs scarce; there is widespread agreement that development dollars should be directed to helping societies that are coping with the arrivals of large numbers of refugees.

Even during challenging times, humanitarians must persevere. We must defend and rally support for humanitarian principles. We must attract new donors from across the globe, collaborate more, and seek new ways to respond nimbly and effectively. Our priorities and programs must evolve, along with refugees’ needs. Millions now crowd into cities, stay for years, and need ways to support themselves, so innovations such as electronic cash cards and mobile health clinics are essential. Because victims of conflict should thrive and not just survive, we must coordinate relief and development assistance. And we should also capitalize on the growing international momentum behind stopping all forms of violence against women or “gender based” violence. We know that women, girls, and children are particularly vulnerable during crisis, but abuses can be prevented and perpetrators held accountable.

This year we commemorated the 20th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development – called the “Cairo Conference.” We noted the tremendous progress that has been made around the world to reduce poverty and maternal and child mortality and send girls and boys to school. However, global progress has been unequal, often hampered by discrimination and inequality. John Kerry attended the Cairo Conference as a U.S. Senator, and now, as Secretary of State, he points to the clear evidence that human and reproductive rights, women’s empowerment, and economic development are closely intertwined. At a 20th anniversary celebration in September, the Secretary said:

“We all know that investing in women and youth isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s a strategic necessity. It’s how you create stability, foster sustainable societies, and promote shared prosperity, because societies where women and girls are safe, where women are empowered to exercise their rights and move their communities forward, these societies are more prosperous and more stable – not occasionally but always.”

I’ve also welcomed the growing interest in helping migrants. This year nearly five thousand migrants died in transit, more than double last year’s death toll. The majority perished at sea -- more than three thousand drowned in the Mediterranean. I recently attended a dialogue in Geneva on Protecting Migrants at Sea organized by UNHCR where experts from around the world agreed: whatever the political and logistical hurdles, our first priority must be saving lives. We also recognized that migrants need to be screened for particular vulnerabilities, e.g. in the case of unaccompanied kids, trafficking victims, or because they are fleeing violence or persecution.

In the United States, we can take pride in our program that helps refugees restart their lives here. In 2014, for the second year in a row, we resettled nearly 70,000 refugees of more than 65 nationalities who are now making their homes in cities and towns across our country. Once again, we ensured that they arrived at an even pace throughout the year to give them and their new communities the best possible chance at success. While we continued to admit large numbers of Iraqis, Burmese, Somalis, and Bhutanese, we also are starting to see growing numbers of Congolese and Syrians – two populations that will make up an increasing share of our resettled refugee population in coming years.

Fortunately, our bureau works with organizations that not only share our concerns, but also share our determination to find solutions to seemingly intractable problems. It is a privilege to engage on these issues alongside a host of the world’s best aid organizations. I realize that this letter serves as a reminder of a series of tragic events around the world, but I also write to remind you, our colleagues and friends, that much is being done every day to save lives, alleviate pain and suffering, and help some of the world’s most vulnerable to find safety. Thank you for your interest in and support for our work.

Best regards,


Anne C. Richard
Assistant Secretary
For Population, Refugees, & Migration

DOD VIDEO: NATO SPEARHEAD FORCE TO ENHANCE ALLIANCE

U.S. UNITED NATIONS REPRESENTATIVE POWERS MAKES REMARKS ON UN RESOLUTIONS CONDEMNING ISRAEL

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations 
New York, NY
November 25, 2014
AS DELIVERED

Like everyone in this assembly hall, we are deeply concerned about the volatile situation in the Middle East. The United States has made an enormous effort, especially over the last year and a half, to work with the parties in trying to pave the road towards achieving a negotiated final-status agreement allowing two states to live side-by-side in peace and security.

In this context, the United States remains profoundly troubled by the repetitive and disproportionate number of one-sided General Assembly resolutions condemning Israel – a total of 18 this year. This grossly one-sided approach damages the prospects for peace by undermining trust between parties and damaging the kind of international support critical to achieving peace. All parties to the conflict have direct responsibilities for ending it, and we are disappointed that UN Members continually single out Israel without acknowledging the responsibilities and difficult steps that must be taken on all sides. These unbalanced, one-sided resolutions set back our collective efforts to advance a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Middle East, and they damage the institutional credibility of the United Nations.

Of these annual resolutions, which unfairly single out one country and consistently lack balance, three are particularly troubling to the United States: the “Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat;” the “Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People;” and the “Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.” These resolutions renew mandates for UN bodies established decades ago, wasting valuable resources and reinforcing the perception of systematic UN bias against Israel. All member states should evaluate the effectiveness of supporting and funding these bodies.

I do want to add that our continued opposition to the resolution on “Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and the Occupied Golan,” which will come up for a vote in this Assembly next month, should not be understood to mean that we support settlement activity. On the contrary, we reject in the strongest terms Israeli settlements in territories occupied in 1967. Settlements are illegitimate, and they damage Israel’s security and the hopes for peace.

Continued settlement activity is contrary to Israel’s stated goal of negotiating a permanent status agreement with the Palestinians and is inconsistent with Israel’s international commitments.

During the past year, we have been deeply concerned by Israel’s advancement of plans for thousands of additional housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. We have made clear that such action only draws condemnation from the international community, poisons the atmosphere not only with the Palestinians but also with the very Arab governments with which the Israeli government says it wants to build relations, and undermines the prospect for a peaceful negotiated agreement with the Palestinians.

Both sides took unhelpful steps that undercut the most recent round of final status negotiations. The scale and timing of Israel’s settlement activities contributed significantly to the erosion of trust between the parties.

The United States is in full agreement about the urgent need to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, based on the two-state solution and an agreement that establishes a viable, independent, and contiguous state of Palestine, once and for all. We’ve invested a tremendous amount of effort and resources in pursuit of this shared goal, and we firmly believe that the parties need to resolve the conflict through direct negotiations. If the parties are willing and ready to take that step, we stand ready to support them and to continue our efforts to advance the cause of peace.

In closing, while the United States unequivocally rejects Israeli settlements in territories occupied in 1967, they do not justify the repetitive, disproportionate, and one-sided General Assembly resolutions condemning Israel, which do not advance our collective efforts to advance a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Thank you.

NATO AND THE SOUTHERN FLANK

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
NATO Official Discusses Southern Flank, Mediterranean Dialogue
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2014 – Russia’s blatant disregard of international norms in Ukraine is just one example of its attempts to reject an international order that promotes democracy, sovereignty and the rule of law, NATO’s deputy secretary general said in La Hulpe, Belgium, today.

Alexander Vershbow told the conference on NATO-Israel cooperation that challenges from Russia and from NATO’s southern flank share many of the same attributes.

Russia’s continued attempts to destabilize Ukraine “have blatantly breached international agreements and confidence-building measures,” Vershbow said.
And on NATO’s southern flank, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant continues to spew its hatred, “pouring oil on the fire of extremism and sectarianism that is already burning across the Middle East and North Africa,” he said.

“ISIL’s advances in Iraq and the Levant also risk exporting terrorism much further afield, including to NATO and [European Union] member states,” the deputy secretary general added.

NATO Determined to Defeat ISIL, Similar Threats

ISIL is working to overthrow rules-based and values-based order that is the guarantor of freedom, security and prosperity for all nations, Vershbow said, and NATO is determined to play its part to defeat this threat and those like it.
“The capabilities and forces that we are now developing are very clearly aimed at enhancing NATO’s overall resilience,” the deputy secretary general said. “We want to be able to deploy them quickly not only whenever, but also wherever, threats emerge – whether it’s in our eastern or our southern neighborhoods.”
At NATO’s summit held in Wales in September, the alliance also decided to strengthen cooperation with partner nations. The summit also launched an initiative to help partners strengthen their ability to address security challenges.
“This initiative builds upon NATO’s extensive expertise in defense capacity building -- for instance, in Kosovo and Afghanistan,” Vershbow explained. “And we made clear that we stand ready to assist Iraq in strengthening its security sector, if the new government so requests.”

Risk of Extremism Has Grown on NATO’s Southern Flank

The risk of extremism on NATO’s southern flank has grown and produced more fertile territory since the Arab Spring, the deputy secretary general said. The Mediterranean Dialogue – a NATO initiative celebrating 20 years – is more valuable than ever, he added.

“The Mediterranean Dialogue was never intended to have a direct influence on the Middle East peace process, or in tackling the wider challenges of the region,” he said. “But it was a genuine attempt to improve mutual understanding, to dispel misconceptions and to foster a dialogue that otherwise would not exist.”
The dialogue has developed into a unique multilateral forum, he noted. “It’s the only structured framework where the 28 NATO allies, Israel and key Arab countries sit together on a regular basis,” he said.

But more can be done, Vershbow told the forum audience:
-- A firm offer to assist countries in transition with defense and security sector reform, including planning and budgeting;
-- Dealing with surplus ammunition; and
-- Encouraging what he called “good security governance.”
NATO nations have unique expertise in these areas, he said, and the alliance will look to include the European Union in these efforts.

More Focus on Capability Building

Vershbow said he would like to see more focus on capability building. “We want to help the countries of the region to be better able both to address security concerns in their own region and to participate in international peacekeeping and crisis management operations – including those led by NATO,” he said.
This, he added, could involve greater military-to-military cooperation, and invitations to participate in NATO training, exercises and education programs.
“But it could also involve more structured cooperation between NATO and organizations like the African Union and the Arab League,” he said.
The deputy secretary general said he expects a further strengthening of dialogue and cooperation where NATO shares the same values and interests with its partners to better address specific concerns and requirements. “And I see particular scope here for our relations with longstanding, active partners like Israel,” he added.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS IN BEIJING, CHINA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Press Availability in Beijing, China
Press Availability
John Kerry
Secretary of State
China National Convention Center
Beijing, China
November 8, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Good afternoon, everybody. I want to begin by thanking our Chinese hosts for their very, very warm welcome and for the depth and breadth of the discussions that we’ve been able to have at APEC this year.

This is my ninth trip to Asia and the Asia Pacific in the 21 months since I have served as Secretary of State. And I have returned again and again to this region for one simple reason: The United States is a Pacific nation, and we take our enduring interests here very seriously, our responsibilities likewise. We know that America’s security and prosperity are closely linked to the Asia Pacific, and that is why President Obama began the rebalance to Asia in 2009. It’s why he has asked me to redouble my own efforts in the region over the course of the next two years.

I’ve had a number of very productive bilateral meetings in the course of the last day here on the sidelines of the APEC conference with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China and other Asia Pacific allies and partners, including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand. And both the Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers briefed me on the progress that they announced in their bilateral relations, and we, the United States, very much welcomed the reduction in tension between Asia’s two largest economies. I look forward to continuing these discussions and to deepening our partnerships with APEC economies when President Obama arrives on Monday for the APEC Leaders’ meetings here in Beijing. Excuse me.

To ensure that the partnerships that we talk about here at APEC are able to endure, it is really essential that we reach agreement on the rules of the road. And we need to do so through multilateral institutions where all voices can be heard. APEC is essential to upholding the rules-based system throughout the Asia Pacific. It is the best way to ensure that all of our economies, big and small economies, have a voice. And I am very pleased with the progress that we made this year on the regional economic integration and on strengthening connectivity and infrastructure development. The United States is very committed to working with our APEC partners in order to build stable regional economic order based on rules and norms that are reinforced by institutions. Our goal is to remove barriers to trade and investment so that businesses in all APEC economies can grow and create jobs and compete with other companies and other countries on an equal basis. APEC has and will continue to play a critical role in guaranteeing that.

Today, we also made important progress with China and other APEC economies on promoting women’s economic empowerment, combating corruption, supporting educational opportunities across borders, and advancing our commitment to clean energy. First, we launched the APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard. The dashboard will be a measure of progress across APEC economies on key issues for women’s economic empowerment. And it will allow us the ability to be able to measure education, leadership positions, opportunities for employment, all the different things that contribute to the ability to increase women’s empowerment in the economy. We also launched a Women’s Entrepreneurship in APEC Network. And that will link women entrepreneurs and business owners to each other and to supply chains all across the region. Frankly, that is good for business, it is good for workers, and it is good for all of our economies.

Second, we deepened our partnership with APEC economies on combating corruption. The principles that we adopted are clear and they are compelling. We are determined to prevent, detect, and effectively prosecute foreign bribery. We’re providing guidance to our businesses on how they could help prevent and detect corruption. And we are enhancing our law enforcement cooperation and we’re promoting the adoption of APEC business codes of ethics for small and medium enterprises. And we believe that this cooperation is a major step forward. Corruption not only creates an unfair playing field, it not only distorts economic relationships, but corruption also steals from the people of every country the belief that the system can work for everybody. So it is important that systems are transparent and accountable, and ultimately, that people at every level have an ability to have confidence that that system is working for everybody with the same set of rules.

We also made progress in education and clean energy. We launched an APEC scholarship, an internship initiative, to provide more educational opportunities for students in all APEC economies. We committed to doubling the share of renewables in the region’s energy banks by the year 2030. And we reaffirmed our commitment to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. I can’t emphasize enough how critical it is for APEC to lead the way in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We at last have an opportunity to put ourselves on the path to a clean energy future, and that is a path that is more essential than ever because of the urgent threat of global climate change. The solution to climate change is good energy policy. And we believe today, we helped in APEC to move APEC economies to a commitment in that direction.

These efforts complement and reinforce one another. Curtailing corruption makes our marketplace more efficient and more fair. Cutting fossil fuel subsidies creates a cleaner environment and a stronger economy. Enhanced opportunities for women affect and advance the cause of social justice and prosperity. And these are all separate fronts, but actually, all of them support a single, important goal: securing an equitable and sustainable future for all of our countries.

Finally, we also discussed a broad array of challenges, global challenges – from Daesh or ISIL, from the turmoil of the Middle East, from Ebola, to climate change, to the threat of terrorism in many different places. We all understand that Ebola is a global threat requiring global action, and I particularly want to thank Japan for providing an additional $100 million for treatment, prevention, and broader efforts that will promote stability in the hardest-hit countries. Over the last weeks under President Obama’s leadership, many countries have been coming together in an effort to try to create a greater response on Ebola. Many countries have responded remarkably and they’re contributing healthcare workers, they’re contributing construction materials, medical supplies, doctors, nurses, experts, technicians, laboratories, beds, hospital equipment. Every country has an ability to do something, and we are grateful for those that are, but we need more countries to still do more.

And I want to emphasize, across the board, as a planet, all of us on this globe are not yet doing enough to be able to curb and eradicate the threat of Ebola. There are hundreds of new cases each week, and the UN has identified $1 billion in urgent needs. In my meetings over the past two days, I urged all of our APEC partners to help to meet that need with specific efforts along the lines that I just described. So we hope the response will grow, and obviously, out of that can come an enormous example of the ability of countries to come together. What we do against Ebola can actually be a model for what we can do against any other future challenge of similar kind. So this is not a one-time lost moment; this is something that can serve all of us to build a long-term infrastructure to deal with the potential of any communicable disease that can move across boundaries and borders at any time.

With that, I would be happy to answer a few questions.

MS. HARF: Our first question is from Carol Morello of The Washington Post, and there is a microphone for you too, if you’ll just hold on one second.

QUESTION: Could you provide some more details on your discussions this morning with Mr. Lavrov, specifically about Ukraine and Iran? Did he provide any assurances that Russia is committed to upholding the Minsk agreement, particularly when it comes to sending troops and tanks into Luhansk? And if there is credible evidence to the contrary, how would the U.S. respond? New sanctions or something else?

On Iran, did he assess what he considers the prospects for a November 24th agreement? And what is your sense, given the correspondence between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei, that Iran is prepared to make a deal given they – the fact they still refuse to be transparent regarding current and past use of nuclear materials?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, the meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov was a very in-depth meeting in which we discussed a number of different crises in the following context: Obviously, the United States and Russia have some clear differences and some clear disagreements about certain policies at this point in time. And we discussed, obviously, those disagreements. But we also know that we need to find the places where we can agree and cooperate because it is important for the world to do so.

With respect to Iran, Russia has been a constructive, engaged, serious partner in the effort to try to find a solution to a problem that is not – that shouldn’t lend itself to other disagreements, but which has enormous impact for everybody and which is strategically important not just to the United States or the P5+1, but to all countries, and which can have a profound impact on nonproliferation for the long term. So Russia has been working as a constructive participant in the P5+1 process. They have made various suggestions that have helped to move the process along. And we are hopeful that over the course of the next weeks, it will be possible to close real gaps that still exist in order to be able to reach an agreement, but I’m not going to stand here and predict at this point in time what the odds of that are.

I also want to make this very, very clear: No one, to my knowledge, has confirmed or denied whether or not there is a letter or was a letter, and I’m not going to comment on what the President of the United States and a leader of another country may or may not communicate – may or may not communicate privately. I will tell you this, though: No conversation, no agreement, no exchange, nothing has created any kind of a deal or agreement with respect to any of the events that are at stake in the Middle East. There is no linkage whatsoever of the nuclear discussions with any other issue, and I want to make that absolutely clear. The nuclear negotiations are on their own, they are standing separate from anything else, and no discussion has ever taken place about linking one thing to another, one involvement with another, that I am aware of. And I’m confident I am aware of what the President has been doing and saying with respect to this issue.

The issue of Ukraine we discussed, obviously, at length, but we also discussed Syria, we discussed the Middle East peace process, we discussed other issues of concern. Suffice it to say that we do have some disagreements about some of the facts on the ground with respect to Ukraine. We have agreed to exchange some information between us regarding that. And we have also agreed that this is a dialogue that will continue. But the issue of sanctions or other issues obviously have been made clear, are that the choices Russia makes will decide what happens with respect to sanctions in the long run here.

And our hope is still that the process of the Minsk agreements can go forward, that they will be implemented, and that it will be possible over time, with their implementation, to see the border sealed, to see the troops withdrawn, and to see stability restored in a way that allows everybody to move down a path of de-escalation. But it really is up to the events over the course of the next weeks to determine whether or not that happens.

MS. HARF: Great. Our final question is from Hu Ling of Phoenix TV. The mike is coming.

QUESTION: Thank you, Secretary. I come from Hong Kong, Phoenix TV. My question --

SECRETARY KERRY: Okay, go ahead.

QUESTION: Yeah, sorry. My question concern about the China and Japan relationship. You have also mentioned about a little bit in your final (inaudible) speech, and I wonder how you – what’s your comment on the agreement reached by China and Japan, and that they finally made the top leader meeting during the APEC time? And also, do you think it’s come to a release – relief for U.S. and also other Asia country? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: What was the last part of the question? I’m sorry.

QUESTION: Sorry, I do wonder, the meeting – the top leader meeting welcomes to relief for U.S. and also other neighboring country in Asia? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: The top leader meeting in – between --

QUESTION: Yeah, between China and Japan.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I discussed this new agreement with both Foreign Minister Wang Yi and also with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan. And both of them explained to me what they believe they have achieved in the four points with respect to the agreement between them. I want to be clear that the United States welcomes this initiative. We think that any steps that the two countries can take to improve the relationship and reduce the tensions is helpful not just to those two countries, but it’s helpful to the region.

And I think it’s entirely appropriate that that particular discussion took place here at APEC, which frankly is becoming not just a place to discuss economic ideas, but also to reflect on the fact that today, the ability of economics to work requires stability and a peaceful process in place. So I think that security issues are also automatically on the table. So to have this emerge from this meeting, I think, is important.

Now this agreement is a beginning; it’s not an end. It’s the outline of steps that now need to be taken in order to really define how certain tensions are going to really be resolved. So it will be over time that this will be given a little more meat on the bones. But we absolutely appreciate the initial effort, we think it’s very constructive, and we have hopes that it can lead to a greater definition and to a reduction further of any conflict or tension in the region.

MS. HARF: Great. Thank you all very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you all very much. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER JUDEH

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks With Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Paris, France
November 5, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: (In progress) -- we’ll talk about. He’s been a critical partner, together with King Abdullah of Jordan, in the efforts to try to work for stability and peace in the Middle East. That remains an urgent priority, notwithstanding the very serious complications that have grown up over the course of the last months. We urge everybody to try to step back and find a way to create enough calm and enough space to be able to negotiate these difficult issues. None of them lend themselves to unilateral resolution, and I condemn today’s terrorist act of somebody driving in another car into innocent people standing on the roadside. That is not just a terrorist act and an act of – an atrocity, but it only makes matters worse. It only raises tensions.

There are those who oppose peace, and people need to not allow those who oppose peace to control what is happening in the region. The peacemakers need to control it, and they need to take steps to begin to move in a different direction. That’s what’s important. Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER JUDEH: Well, I just want to add to that that it’s a great opportunity to meet the Secretary of State yet again, and our close consultation is something of mutual benefit. I think we have a lot to discuss. But the only way – just to reiterate what the Secretary’s saying, the only way that we can prevent these unilateral measures from continuing to take place is to have a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, at the core of which is the Palestinian-Israeli. So I think this is what we will want to work on achieving so that we don’t have another Gaza and we don’t have these continuous violations and unilateral actions.

DOD LEADERS PRAISE PROGRESS MADE AGAINST ISIL

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel holds a press briefing with Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, Oct. 30, 2014.  DoD photo by Army Staff Sgt. Sean K. Harp. 

Pentagon Leaders Laud Progress Against ISIL

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2014 – Defense Department leaders today praised the progress made against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq and Syria as implementation of the broader comprehensive strategy in the Middle East continues.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed progress and strategy during a Pentagon news conference.

Hagel began the news conference by highlighting the recent transfer of two NATO bases – Camp Leatherneck and Camp Bastion -- to Afghan security forces as part of “significant progress” in Afghanistan. He praised U.S. forces for their service in Afghanistan, as well NATO partners, for their contributions.
“I also want to thank our [International Security Assistance Force] partners for what they’ve done,” he said, “and in particular, the Afghan national security forces as they have continued to make progress -- significant progress in defending their country.”

Turning to Iraq, the defense secretary said he spoke with Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi last week about Iraqi force preparations to take the offensive against ISIL.

Gains in Northern and Central Iraq

“Over the past week, we’ve seen Iraqi and Kurdish forces begin to do that,” Hagel said. “And they’ve made some gains in both northern and central Iraq. Their initial progress is encouraging, but these are just first steps … in what we have said will be a long and difficult multiyear effort against ISIL by the local Iraqi forces on the ground [with] support from the U.S, as well as coalition partners.”

Tomorrow, Hagel said, the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division headquarters will take command in Baghdad, coordinating all U.S. forces in Iraq.

“But our military campaign is only one part of the broader comprehensive strategy required to defeat ISIL,” he said, “choking off its resources and recruits, and supply lines and de-legitimizing its murderous ideology are just as important as [Iraqi] Prime Minister [Haider al] Abadi’s efforts to build an inclusive Iraqi government that must earn the trust and confidence of the Iraqi people.”

The Future of Syria

Hagel said the realities of ISIL controlling vast areas of Syria and Iraq are forcing a coalition of more than 60 countries to come together to deal with this “immediate threat.”

“The future of Syria,” he said, “which the nations of the Middle East have a significant investment in that stability, is going to require all elements, not only of our government, but all of the countries in the Middle East and others working together to find a solution to bring peace in Syria, to stabilize that region of the world.”

Officials constantly are assessing, adapting and working through different options, Hagel said, because the situation is complicated and long-term, and there are no short-term easy answers to it.

“That’s why we meet so often on this issue,” he said. “This is why we are building, and continue to build, an effective coalition in the Middle East to deal with these issues.”

Training and Equipping Moderate Opposition Update

The chairman was asked to provide an update on the status of the department’s program to train and equip the Syrian moderate opposition.

“The command-and-control apparatus is in place,” Dempsey said. “The sites have been selected, and the reconnaissance conducted to determine what infrastructure we’ll need to accomplish the mission.”

Coalition partners are beginning to contribute trainers to the efforts, he added, though the recruiting and vetting has not yet begun.

Expanding Mission Area in Iraq

Dempsey discussed the possibility of expanding the train-advise-assist mission of U.S. forces in Iraq, currently oriented around Irbil and Baghdad, to include Anbar province.

“There’s three components to the train-advise-assist mission,” he explained. “Initially, the Iraqi security forces, and I include in that the [Kurdish peshmerga forces], … mostly oriented around Baghdad and Irbil, and then there’s the issue of the tribes and trying to find a way to … enable them.”

Also, Dempsey said, a program is in place to begin to restore some offensive capability and mindset to Iraqi security forces. “We need to think about how to do that with the tribes,” he added. “We also need to make sure that the Iraqi security forces are not spread out in ways that prevent them from supporting each other.”

Dempsey pointed to areas such as al-Asad, and Iraqi units such as the 7th and 9th Iraqi army divisions, which he said are “somewhat isolated.”
The Iraqi security forces, he said, need help with planning and executing and with linking up groups that are isolated. “And then,” he said, “I think that becomes a platform for reaching out to the tribes.”

The third component, Dempsey said, is the national guard concept, which -- if the Iraqi government takes a decision to form it and passes a law -- probably would begin to be implemented in 2015.

“You need all three of those, eventually,” the chairman said. “Right now, we’re focused on the Iraqi security forces.

U.S. AMBASSADOR PRESSMAN'S REMARKS TO UN ON SITUATION IN JERUSALEM

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks by Ambassador David Pressman, U. S . Alternate Representative to the United Nations for Special Political Affairs, at a Security Council Open Debate on the Middle East, October 29, 2014

Ambassador David Pressman

Alternate Representative to the UN for Special Political Affairs 

New York, NY

October 29, 2014

AS DELIVERED

Thank you, Madam President, and thank you, Under-Secretary-General Feltman for your briefing.

We are deeply concerned by the deteriorating situation in Jerusalem, especially over the last two weeks. We are living in a time of tremendous turmoil in the Middle East. It is a time that requires brave leadership. A time that requires hard choices – choices that advance peace; choices that advance stability; choices that advance security.

This is a time that calls for responsible decisions by leaders and people of both sides, as well as the international community, to advance the goals of security and peace.

The current situation is only made more difficult by actions that pollute the atmosphere for peace and further undermine trust on both sides. We continue to urge all to refrain from actions, including settlement activity and unhelpful rhetoric by either side, that will only further escalate tensions.

The deterioration of the situation in Jerusalem, at a time when so many are eager for signs of progress towards peace, is deeply troubling.

It’s hard to imagine sites more sensitive than those in Jerusalem and, today, we are very concerned by recent tensions surrounding the Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif. It is absolutely critical that all sides exercise restraint, refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric, and preserve the historical status quo on the Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif – in word and in practice.

That’s why Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent statements expressing his commitment to maintain the status quo there and not to make any changes at the site are so important. We welcome the Prime Minister’s comments.

The continued commitment by Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians to preserve the historic status quo at the holy site is critical. Any decisions or actions to change it would be both provocative and dangerous. We urge the leaders of all three parties to exercise decisive leadership and work cooperatively together to lower tensions and discourage violence, alleviate restrictions on Muslim worshipers, and reinvigorate long-standing coordination mechanisms and relationships that have served over the decades to preserve the historic status quo as it pertains to religious observance and access to the site. These arrangements are essential for maintaining calm at this important and holy site.

Israel’s recently announced plans to advance a project to construct more than 1,000 housing units in East Jerusalem are deeply concerning. Beyond these recent developments, we have also seen reports that Israeli authorities met today and discussed the approval of dozens of projects aimed to expand settlement infrastructure in the West Bank – including water projects, electricity grid expansion, and road construction – along with so-called “legalization” of outposts the Israeli government itself considers illegal. The United States is deeply concerned by these developments. We urge all parties to refrain from provocative actions, including settlement activity by Israeli authorities. Settlement activity will only further escalate tensions at a time that is already tense enough.

The United States views settlement activity as illegitimate. And we have made unambiguously clear our opposition to unilateral steps that may prejudge the future of Jerusalem, just as we have made clear our opposition to any unilateral attempts to make end-runs around the hard work of negotiations.

Against this backdrop, the cycle of violence continues. The unconscionable attack at the Jerusalem tram stop last week that killed a young baby who was a United States citizen is unconscionable. We condemn it in the strongest possible terms. We express our deepest condolences to the family of the child who was killed and the second victim, who succumbed to her wounds. We also express our sympathies to those injured in the attack and hope for their full recovery.

The United States also expresses its deepest condolences to the family of the 14 year-old American citizen who was killed by Israeli Defense Forces during the clashes in Silwad on October 24th. We have called on the Israeli authorities to conduct an expeditious and transparent investigation into this incident and we expect them to do so.

In this especially fraught environment, it is critical that all parties restore calm and that hard choices are made to de-escalate tensions and re-engage in the hard work of negotiations. Unilateral actions and short-cuts are no substitute for the difficult work that peace will require.

Our goal must be to lay the groundwork for a negotiated agreement that will lead to two states living side-by-side in peace and security. As we have said before, the two-state solution is the only viable way forward and negotiations are the means by which this conflict will ultimately be resolved. If the parties are willing and committed to go down this path – in both words and in deeds – then we stand ready to support them every step of the way.

Thank you, Madam President.

ANNE RICHARD MAKES REMARKS AT CONFERENCE ON PROTECTION OF REFUGEE CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Investing in the Future: Protecting Refugee Children in the Middle East and North Africa

Remarks

Anne C. Richard

Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

Remarks at the First Regional Conference Dedicated to the Protection of Refugee Children and Adolescents

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

October 15, 2014

I would like to thank His Royal Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Al Qasimi, and High Commissioner Guterres for hosting this very important conference.

Children in the region confront horrors and hardships that almost defy belief. They have been blown apart by bombs at elementary schools, sold as sex slaves and forced to fight.

Millions of children have been driven from their homes in Syria. Recently hundreds of thousands have fled their homes in Iraq. I have met refugee children in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, and heard their harrowing stories.

I have also seen hundreds of refugee children who were bound for North Africa. They had walked from Eritrea to a camp in Ethiopia. Many were utterly alone. They had fled ruthless repression, hopelessness, and military service without end. But were about to continue northward, where smugglers and traffickers could easily kidnap, rob, rape them or send them off aboard unseaworthy boats to drown.

By cooperating more effectively, I believe we can offer more and better protection to these vulnerable refugee children and adolescents. So I am very pleased that we have gathered for this conference.

Meeting refugees’ basic needs – providing shelter, health care, and nutrition – is not enough. Children and adolescents need targeted aid that is tailored to their ages and needs, recognizes how vulnerable they are and how resilient they can be. These programs can change the trajectory of their lives.

The U.S. government supports the goals outlined in UNHCR’s 2012 Framework for the Protection of Children. Today I will focus on one of these goals, safety, and on the related issues of protecting girls, providing quality, education and proper documentation for refugee children.

Children continue to face danger, long after they flee from the bullets and the bombs. Often refugee children and adolescents shoulder burdens that they should not, because families are fractured, or because years of exile have stripped them of their money, their dignity, and their patience.

More and more children are working, often in jobs that jeopardize their health or their futures because their families need the cash.

Refugee girls and adolescents face sexual exploitation and abuse. Some of those who wield power over refugees have reportedly extorted sexual favors. Land lords, camp leaders, and as in crises elsewhere, even some of those charged with delivering aid.

Many Syrian refugee girls are not allowed to attend school or even leave their homes because it’s considered too dangerous. Women and girls may be reluctant to seek help when they are harassed. Adolescent girls who are harassed may themselves be blamed and punished by relatives for shaming their families. In part, because sexual abuse is such a danger, and in part because families are running out of money, girls are being forced to marry.

Studies show that in two years, the rate of child marriages among Syrian refugees in Jordan has doubled, and nearly half of these marriages pair girls with men at least a decade older. Child brides are more likely to drop out of school, have risky early pregnancies, and face domestic abuse, which endangers both them and their children.

Donors, aid agencies, and host governments can work together to help children be and feel safer. Specialized training can help aid workers care for and counsel children. Most aid groups know that we should not create redundant structures that run parallel to existing government institutions, but instead, improve government services to protect all children.

As humanitarians and donors, we must hold ourselves to the highest possible standard. Aid workers and others who are supposed to be helping refugees should NEVER – not ever – get away with sexually exploiting or abusing them. This is why codes of conduct and respect for the core principles of Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse are so important. We can improve safeguards and mechanisms for reporting abuse and work together to bring perpetrators to justice.

Countries hosting refugee children can also consider tightening certain laws or stepping up enforcement of existing laws to prevent forced early marriage and the worst forms of child labor. Governments could ease the financial pressures on families that put children at risk. For instance, granting temporary work permits to adults – can make an enormous difference to children.

Access to good schools can insulate refugee children from all sorts of hazards. Parents who believe their children are learning something useful are less likely to urge them to drop out and go to work or get married. Being in school lowers the risk that children will be recruited to fight.

In addition, school can offer something precious to uprooted children: normalcy and social cohesion. Yet, after more than three years of warfare, three million children in Syria are no longer in school. More than half a million Syrian refugee children in neighboring countries face the same predicament. This includes half of all registered Syrian refugee children in Jordan and 80 percent of those in Lebanon.

Because schools are severely overcrowded, some communities have resorted to double-and even triple-shifts. Syrian children in Turkey and northern Iraq also struggle because they do not understand Turkish or Kurdish. The majority, who do not live in camps, have a much harder time enrolling in school. Some have missed too much school to go back. Some are too traumatized to concentrate and learn.

Education is also under siege in Iraq and Gaza. In parts of Iraq, more than 2,000 schools now house families forced to flee the mayhem unleashed by ISIL extremists. After the recent fighting, many schools in Gaza are either damaged or destroyed or continue to shelter displaced civilians.

Many of your governments are pouring enormous effort and resources into accommodating the huge influx of refugee children. The No Lost Generation initiative has helped to nearly triple the number of Syrian children receiving education in neighboring countries. The United States is committing millions of dollars for education programs through organizations like UNICEF, UNHCR, UNRWA, and international non-governmental organizations.

The international community supports steps to broaden access further by making it easier to register for school or earn certificates or other credentials. Innovative solutions including non-traditional education can fill gaps. For example, UNRWA is broadcasting school lessons on satellite television and YouTube to reach its students in Syria who are unable to attend school.

We can help children feel safer in school and on the way there. Children too emotionally distraught to pay attention may benefit from counseling. Additional training can help teachers to recognize and assist them. Our projects should not only help refugees but also build social cohesion between refugee and host communities by meeting both groups’ needs.

Finally, I would like to talk about my third topic: the legal documents every child needs to be recognized as a person. We are at risk of creating a generation of stateless children. This is because many refugee children are not registered at birth and because nationality laws in several countries in the region bar women from conferring their nationality to their children.

Every year, thousands of Syrian refugee children are born without documentation, and without fathers on hand to help secure their nationality. Without birth registration, these children may not be able to enroll in school or gain access to vital services. Worse still, they become particularly vulnerable to the type of exploitation we’ve already discussed today: to child labor, child marriage, and other forms of gender-based violence. This lack of birth registration can haunt refugee children for the rest of their lives.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of State launched an initiative to promote women’s equal right to nationality. It seeks legal reforms in the 27 countries where women lack this right, and pushes for registration of all children at birth.

Some countries have taken important steps to remove barriers to registration.

Jordan, for example, is establishing satellite offices of its Civil Service Department in major refugee camps, and waiving certain deadlines and fees for birth registration.

We know that children are resilient. If someone stands up for them, protects them, teaches them, while they are still young they can heal, and learn. The demands are so great and the stakes so high that we must not falter, or waste precious resources or miss opportunities to cooperate. I am grateful to be here, to share our perspectives and to hear yours as we work together to help the region’s children.

Thank you very much.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARK'S DURING MEETING WITH EMBASSY STAFF IN OTTAWA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Meeting With Embassy Ottawa Staff

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Embassy Ottawa

Ottawa, Canada

October 28, 2014

AMBASSADOR HEYMAN: Okay, everyone. This is an incredibly special day. As you all know, we’ve looked forward to your visit for a long time – (laughter) – a lot longer than this weekend.

Here we have the 68th Secretary of State, sworn in in February of 2013. He spent 28 years in the Senate on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, so he knows foreign relations quite well; an avid proponent of working with veterans as a result of his service, but also just his deep care for veterans. So those of you in the room who are veterans, just – you have a huge fan.

Secretary Kerry is leading our country on the world stage, dealing with some of the most challenging issues of the day, and we couldn’t think of a better person to have than our Secretary. So – sure. That works.

SECRETARY KERRY: It works. (Laughter.)

AMBASSADOR HEYMAN: So with that --

SECRETARY KERRY: I’m a full-service Secretary. (Laughter.)

AMBASSADOR HEYMAN: Full service. Thank you, sir. So the DCM and my wife Vicki and I welcome you to home Ottawa. This is your home, sir.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thanks.

AMBASSADOR HEYMAN: So thank you very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. (Inaudible.)

Thank you all very much for a wonderful welcome. I am really happy to be here, and despite the fact that it’s taken me longer than I wanted to to be able to get up here, I’m proud to say that John Baird was the first person I received in Washington as Secretary, one of my first three phone calls the day I got sworn in, and I don’t think anybody doubts – we had been meeting everywhere in the world except here, so it’s finally appropriate that I got here, though I’m sorry about the circumstances, obviously.

Thank you all for everything that you all do. You think – you guys aren’t going to throw anything (inaudible), right? (Laughter.) Looks very dangerous up – how do you get the extra plateau here? What’s the deal? You have tickets or something? (Laughter.) Right. Cheaper tickets, right?

Anyway, this is special for me. I’m really glad to get up here. First of all, this building was designed by a fellow from Boston, so it’s special for me to do that. But secondly, a good friend of mine who was on the other side of the aisle, Paul Cellucci, was the ambassador up here. Anybody of you get the chance to work – how many have you worked with Paul? Yeah. He was a terrific guy, and God rest his soul. He really was special, and very courageous in his final battle with ALS.

And I had a lot – a bunch of other friends have been up here too as ambassadors, and it’s – so I feel connected, notwithstanding the fact – I also – it’s nice to be in a – I’m a hockey player, and Bruce and I both root for hockey teams – the wrong ones (inaudible) – in his case, the Blackhawks; in my case, the Bruins. It is very nice to be in a city as a former senator where they actually cheer for senators here. (Laughter.) Although, given what’s going on, not the appointed ones up in the Hill. The other ones.

Thank you all for being here. Thanks for what you do. And I know that the last week was pretty jarring to everybody, being on lockdown. I want to thank the Marines, I want to thank the RSO, I want to thank the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and others, all of whom gave people a sense of confidence during the events of last week, which bring home to all of us why we’re here and what we’re doing and why this work is really so important.

We’re living in an incredibly challenging time. It’s almost cliched now to sort of say that, because it doesn’t fully bring home to people the full measure of challenge that we all face. I’m sure some of you have served in Kabul or Baghdad, and the last thing you expected was to come to Ottawa, know that there were gunshots in the streets and that the parliament was potentially under siege and certainly assaulted by one individual with weapons. That brings home to us that this is a different kind of challenge. This – the challenge of our generation is going to be to deal with religious radical extremism, which exploits a legitimate and beautiful religion that is being totally distorted, has nothing to do with what they purport to be pursuing, and nevertheless captures the minds of some of our young people, even in America. We have over a hundred people who’ve gone over there to fight with ISIL. Several hundred from France, from Germany, from Britain, from Holland, from the Netherlands, from Australia – run around the world.

And so we have to push back. We’re not going to win this exclusively through our efforts on the ground in this coalition with kinetic efforts. We’re going to win this with ideas. And we’re also going to win it with better alternatives for a whole bunch of young people who today live in places where they feel oppressed, where they don’t have a lot of opportunity, there’s not enough education, they don’t have jobs, but they know what the rest of the world has because they all have smart phones, they all have mobile devices, and they’re all seeing what’s going on and they trade thoughts. And frankly, there have been years and years of anger and frustration building up for a whole lot of different reasons in South Central Asia, Middle East, Horn of Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and different places.

So our challenge is to not make them think that modernity and rule of law and civil society and states that have long existed is somehow the enemy. And what we have to do is take our values and our principles out there as never before, in hard work and now sometimes dangerous work. And what’s critical is we’re near a country that could not be a better partner to us. We’re very lucky. Nobody gets to choose their neighbors, but we have neighbors that are in sync and very much committed and sharing the same set of values, which is not true of everybody everywhere else in the world.

So you are fostering a very important relationship here, and I want to thank you all for doing that. We’ve got all kind of – I think we’ve got more than 30 agencies represented here, 250-plus direct hires, a whole bunch of folks who are Canadian local hires, and we thank you profoundly, all of you, who share in our journey and who are willing to sort of bear the burdens of the United States as well and come here and be part of our team. I think everybody here joins in saying thank you. I think there’s somebody here named Gloria Yerly. Is she here somewhere?

MS. YERLY: Yes.

SECRETARY KERRY: Gloria, where are you? (Cheers and applause.) Gloria – 38 years Gloria has been working here, right?

MS. YERLY: Yes, sir.

SECRETARY KERRY: You’re the best. We love you. Thank you. (Cheers and applause.) Thank you very much. Golly, I can tell why she’s so special. I mention her name and she springs into action. (Laughter.) She’s up here in 10 seconds. I love it. Thank you so much for everything you do. We really appreciate it. And DCM Richard Sanders – where’s Richard? Somewhere. There he is, over here. Thank you, sir, very much for (inaudible). (Applause.)

And Vicki and Bruce, we really appreciate the energy and experience you bring to this and your enthusiasm, which is unbounded. I want you to know I’ve been getting the down-low the whole time we’ve been walking around. So I am well-schooled here in terms of – so schooled that I got out to the Provence, the Moulin de Provence over here, and I’m now full of cookies. (Laughter.) Feeling my sugar high at, what is it, 3:11 in the afternoon? Let it be recorded. (Laughter.)

But the bottom line is that President Obama and I just want to say thank you to you. None of us can do anything that we do without all of you undertaking what you do. And I know it’s easy for me to decide to take a trip like that; it’s hard to make the trip happen. And a lot of you have to scramble and make a lot of pieces come together very quickly. I thank you for doing that, and I know that within about 10 minutes of my getting out of here you guys are going to have a hell of a wheels-up party. (Laughter.)

AMBASSADOR HEYMAN: No, Secretary Kerry. Secretary Pritzker is coming in 48 hours.

SECRETARY KERRY: Forty-eight hours? Well, I’ll warn her about the potential of some very droopy eyes and (inaudible). (Laughter.)

Anyway, keep up – keep doing what you’re doing, because this is a long haul. We have a lot of miles to go, so to speak, and it could get harder before it gets easier in some ways in certain parts of this journey. So I ask all of you – Foreign Service, Civil Service, agency appointees, United States Marine Corps – all of you stay at it. We need you. We are profoundly grateful for the fact that you’re here. But I’ll tell you something: We’re the lucky ones, because a lot of people cannot get up in the morning and go to work and feel as rewarded and make as much difference in people’s lives and have as much impact on a course of history as everybody here gets to do.

So you are the lucky ones in many, many ways. And on behalf of the President, myself, and the people of the United States of America, I thank everybody who’s involved in this great enterprise. It’s a privilege to be with you. Thank you. (Applause.)

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER ABBOT

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks With Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott Before Their Meeting

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Jakarta, Indonesia

October 20, 2014

PRIME MINISTER ABBOTT: Well, John, look, it's terrific to have yourself here to talk and to share (inaudible) very important issues, from the situation in the Middle East to the situation (inaudible) to all the other areas where the United States and Australia have a very, very close relationship. I appreciate the tremendous leadership the United States shows with the world. I'm grateful for (inaudible) today, because I think it's (inaudible) and that you can be here to help honor the incoming Indonesian President. Australia has had a long, strong relationship with Indonesia. Prime Minister Howard attended the inauguration of President (inaudible) back in 2004. And I hope the tradition that's now been established of Australian prime ministers attending the inaugurations of Indonesian presidents, and perhaps a similar tradition (inaudible) established (inaudible) secretaries of state.

But it's good to be with you, and I'm looking forward to (inaudible).

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you, Prime Minister. It's a privilege to (inaudible), and I appreciate enormously your taking a moment to share (inaudible), and I bring you President Obama's strong greetings and great gratitude of him and all of (inaudible) Australians major stepping up with respect to the coalition. As we said when Secretary Hagel and I were in Sydney, we couldn't have a stronger partner, and we're very, very grateful for Australia's consistent willingness to step up and stand for values, as well as (inaudible) that are important to us.

We couldn't agree more about the inauguration today, the meaning of this, not just in Indonesia, but in the region. It's very, very important, obviously: you're here and, while the President couldn't come, he was very anxious to make sure we were represented at a high level here.

I do want to say that your efforts with respect to foreign fighters, which you regrettably have to experience even at a lower level, brings home to everybody how important it is for this to be a global coalition, and for all of us to understand the stakes. We were well served in the last couple of days as the Iraqis themselves chose a minister of interior and a minister of defense. That's particularly helpful for the planning and implementing of our efforts.

So, I look forward to talk with to you about that, about Iran (inaudible), Afghanistan, the DPRK, the South China Sea. There are a lot of issues for us to chat about. So again, it's good to be with you, and thank you so much for (inaudible).

CHAIRMAN NATO MILITARY COMMITTEE SAYS NATO IN TRANSFORMATION

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

NATO Changes to Meet New Threats, Challenges

By Jim Garamone

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2014 – Throughout its history, many people have forecast the death of the NATO alliance, but it has remained relevant and is set for another transformation, Danish Army Gen. Knud Bartels, the chairman of the NATO Military Committee, said today.

The chairman of the Military Committee directs the day-to-day business of the committee, NATO's highest military authority, and acts on its behalf, according to the NATO website.

NATO’s transformation will be an inherently different one than in the past, Bartels said at a Defense Writers’ Group breakfast.

Over its history, the alliance has transformed any number of times, Bartels said. The alliance went from a strategy of massive retaliation to one of flexible response. It went from a small Western alliance aimed at a single enemy to a large alliance of like-minded nations sharing and defending shared values. It went from a North Atlantic/European alliance to fighting a war in Central Asia. It has incorporated new capabilities like missile defense and focused on new defenses like operations in the cyber realm.

Transformation underway

Bartels sees a new transformation underway, but one that is fundamentally different than in the past.

“We are living in a world where everything takes place with emails, Twitter, Facebook, et cetera, et cetera,” he said. “This means that the long adaptation we have seen with our previous transformations will be an accelerated process, both at the military and political level.”

Threats will continue for the alliance, he said, and while it needs to look forward, it also needs to look to the past.

The challenge that Russia presents with its occupation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and threats to eastern Ukraine is one example, Bartels said. Russia launched what is now being called a hybrid campaign against Ukraine.
The hybrid campaign, he said, is characterized by a mixture of conventional forces, unconventional forces, and information warfare.

Hybrid warfare not new

Bartels said hybrid warfare is not new. “You see the way the Soviet Union dealt with Finland during the first Soviet-Finnish War in 1939-1940,” he said. “If you see later on how the Soviet Union implemented its power in what became the Warsaw Pact. Maybe we have not been paying sufficient attention to it.”

The general said NATO knows how to counter such a campaign and is putting in place counters to the various tactics inherent in hybrid warfare.

One problem, he said, is the speed of decision-making on the Russian side. “This is characteristic of the system today and is a challenge to an alliance built on consensus of 28 [members],” Bartels said. “That needs to be addressed at the political level, but the summit at Wales made it quite clear that the allies are aware of the challenge and I am quite confident that the allies are ready to act accordingly when the necessity arises.”

Bartels said he addressed the threat in Vilnius, Lithuania, the site of the most recent meeting of the alliance’s Military Committee. Lithuania is one of the Baltic Republics once a part of the Soviet Union and a possible target of a Russian hybrid campaign.

“I expressed that should a nation or number of nations chose to challenge the integrity of the allies, they will be facing the full might of the most powerful military alliance in the world,” Bartels said. “I said it on purpose -- very clearly and very confident in Vilnius -- one of the Baltic States.”

General Petr Pavel, Chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces of the Czech Republic, was elected to succeed Bartels as the next chairman of the NATO Military Committee when Bartels is expected to step down in June 2015, according to the NATO website.

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND PRIME MINSITER NETANYAHU OF ISRAEL MAKE REMARKS BEFORE MEETING

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

October 01, 2014

Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel Before Bilateral Meeting

Oval Office

11:23 A.M. EDT

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, it’s good once again to welcome the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu.  Obviously, he’s no stranger to the White House.  I think I’ve met with Bibi more than any world leader during my tenure as President.

We meet at a challenging time.  Israel is obviously in a very turbulent neighborhood, and this gives us an opportunity once again to reaffirm the unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel, and our ironclad commitment to making sure that Israel is secure.

Throughout the summer, obviously all of us were deeply concerned about the situation in Gaza.  I think the American people should be very proud of the contributions that we made to the Iron Dome program to protect the lives of Israelis at a time when rockets were pouring into Israel on a regular basis.  I think we also recognize that we have to find ways to change the status quo so that both Israeli citizens are safe in their own homes and schoolchildren in their schools from the possibility of rocket fire, but also that we don’t have the tragedy of Palestinian children being killed as well.

And so we’ll discuss extensively both the situation of rebuilding Gaza but also how can we find a more sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Our agenda will be broader than that, obviously.  I’ll debrief Bibi on the work that we’re doing to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, and the broader agenda that I discussed at the United Nations, which is mobilizing a coalition not only for military action, but also to bring about a shift in Arab states and Muslim countries that isolate the cancer of violent extremism that is so pernicious and ultimately has killed more Muslims than anything else.

And we’ll also have an opportunity to discuss the progress that’s being made with respect to dealing with Iran’s nuclear program, which obviously has been a high priority for not only Israel, but also the United States and the world community.

So we have a lot to talk about, and I appreciate very much the Prime Minister coming.  It’s challenging I think for an Israeli Prime Minister to have to work so hard during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but I know that the Prime Minister’s utmost priority is making sure that his country is safe during these difficult times.  And we’re glad that the United States can be a partner in that process.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU:  Mr. President, first I want to thank you.  I want to thank you for the unflinching support you gave Israel during our difficult days and difficult summer we had -- expressed in so many ways, but also in an additional installment of support for Iron Dome, which has saved so many lives, saved many lives across the border.  And I thank you for that, and for the continuous bond of friendship that is so strong between Israel and the United States.

I also want to thank you for this opportunity to meet with you and to discuss the enormous challenges facing the United States and Israel in the Middle East.  There’s definitely a new Middle East.  I think it poses new dangers, but it also presents new opportunities.

As for the dangers, Israel fully supports your effort and your leadership to defeat ISIS.  We think everybody should support this.  And even more critical is our shared goal of preventing Iran from becoming a military nuclear power.

As you know, Mr. President, Iran seeks a deal that would lift the tough sanctions that you’ve worked so hard to put in place, and leave it as a threshold nuclear power.  I fervently hope that under your leadership that would not happen.

Equally, I think that there are opportunities.  And the opportunities, as you just expressed, is something that is changing in the Middle East, because out of the new situation, there emerges a commonality of interests between Israel and leading Arab states.  And I think that we should work very hard together to seize on those common interests and build a positive program to advance a more secure, more prosperous and a more peaceful Middle East.

I remain committed to a vision of peace of two states for two peoples based on mutual recognition and rock solid security arrangements on the ground.  And I believe we should make use of the new opportunities, think outside the box, see how we can recruit the Arab countries to advance this very hopeful agenda.  And I look forward to our discussions on these and many other matters.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you very much, everybody.

END
11:29 A.M. EDT

WILLIAM J. BURNS MAKES REMARKS AT SAMUEL L. LEWIS MEMORIAL SYMPOSIUM

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks at the Samuel L. Lewis Memorial Symposium

Remarks

William J. Burns

Deputy Secretary of State

Washington, DC

September 29, 2014

I can’t tell how both touched and honored I am by that, Dennis, and I also happened to notice that the photo on the plaque reminds me of the time in our lives when neither of us had any gray hair. It’s always an honor to be here at The Washington Institute but it’s a special honor to be introduced by Dennis Ross, someone for whom I’ve had great respect over many years. I’ve learned an enormous amount from you about what it is to be a diplomat and what it is to pursue our country’s interests and our country’s values, and how to do it with integrity and decency. So thank you very, very much.

I’m also deeply honored to join all of you in celebrating the wonderful life and career of Sam Lewis, one of our country’s most admired diplomats and peacemakers. From post-war Naples to the 1973 Afghanistan coup and from Camp David to Oslo, Sam lived a life of significance and adventure that most diplomats could only dream of. And with Sallie, he lived a life of friendship and romance that would make Woody Allen weep. His Texan charm, candor, courage, and common sense earned him the respect of countless leaders – both abroad and here at home. He was as comfortable going jaw to jaw with counterparts in the negotiation room as he was going cheek to cheek with sharks on his many scuba dives off the coast of the Sinai. He was a man who didn’t just know where he – and the country he loved – needed to go. He knew how to get there, how to lead, and how to get things done.

Sam once called the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel – an historic achievement in which he played an indispensable part – “a mountain peak in a sea of sand.” The same could be said about Sam’s own extraordinary career. Generations of American diplomats have tried to learn from his example, follow in his footsteps, and scale the diplomatic peaks he conquered so skillfully over the years. None of us have been terribly successful. But all of us learned a great deal along the way – about our profession, about the Middle East, and about the promise of American leadership.

Through Sam’s remarkable journey and my own checkered thirty-three year career in the Foreign Service, I have learned that the Middle East is a place where pessimists seldom lack for either company or validation, where skeptics hardly ever seem wrong. It is a place where American policymakers often learn humility the hard way… a place where you can most easily see the wisdom in Winston Churchill’s famous comment that what he liked most about Americans was that they usually did the right thing in the end; they just liked to exhaust all the alternatives first.

I’ve learned that stability is not a static phenomenon, and that regimes which do not offer their citizens a sense of political dignity and economic possibility ultimately become brittle and break. I’ve learned that change in the Middle East is rarely neat or linear, but often messy and cruel, and deeply unpredictable in its second and third order consequences. I’ve learned not to underestimate the depth of mistrust of American motives that animates so many people in the region, and I’ve learned that we often get far more credit than we deserve for complicated conspiracies. I’ve learned that, with all its stubborn dysfunction, the Middle East is a place where people and leaders are capable of great things… and that American diplomacy, with all of its own occasional dysfunction, can make a real and enduring difference.

During this incredible moment of testing in the region, we miss Sam’s judgment and good counsel more than ever. If Sam were with us, I suspect he would be the first to say that we cannot afford to neglect what’s at stake. And he would urge us not to neglect our responsibility to help shape, within the limits of our influence, the great generational struggle between moderation and extremism that is unfolding across the Middle East today.

A Changing Middle East

Nothing embodies that struggle in starker terms than the threat posed by ISIL. ISIL is obviously not the only source of disorder in the Middle East today. But it is one of the most immediate, and most poisonous. And it is the most dramatic symptom of the layers of change unleashed by the second Arab Awakening – within, among, and beyond Arab states.

Within a number of states, we’ve seen the collapse of a half-century old political order. Societies that for far too long had known far too little freedom, far too little opportunity, and far too little dignity began to erupt. But what also spilled out, in addition to the thirst of individual citizens for dignity, were all the demons of sectarian and communal tension that authoritarian rulers had fueled and forcefully suppressed.

That dynamic in turn helped set off new uncertainties and frictions among states in the region, as political rivalries, sectarian troubles and old Sunni-Shia passions spilled across borders still not firmly rooted nearly a century after their post-World War One formation.

Meanwhile, beyond Arab states, violent extremist groups were quick to try to fill emerging vacuums and take advantage of post-revolutionary chaos.

ISIL took advantage of all these developments – state collapse, proliferation of weapons, regional rivalries, and sectarian polarization – to prosper and grow. But more broadly, what all of these layers of change add up to is the most significant transition in the Arab world since the revolutions of the 1950’s. And what they have laid bare is the long-term question of whether an “Arab center”, as my friend and former Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher has described it, can eventually replace the old order… gradually establishing democratic institutions to manage sectarian differences and provide an outlet for political pluralism and individual dignity… or whether hardliners and extremists of one stripe or another will prove more resilient. The United States has a powerful stake in that very complex competition, and in shaping a careful strategy for enhancing the long-term chances for a new, moderate order which best protects our interests and reflects our values.

A Global Coalition to Counter ISIL

As all of you know very well, there is no shortage of obstacles to a moderate order in the Middle East today. An arc of instability, complicated transitions, and stagnating economies runs nearly uninterrupted from the Maghreb to the Levant and the Gulf. Iran’s nuclear program continues to loom large as we near the November 24 deadline for a comprehensive deal. And if we needed any reminder, this summer’s tragic conflict in Gaza underscored just how unsustainable and combustible the status quo between Palestinians and Israelis remains.

We are seized with all of these challenges. I know Dennis and I will have the opportunity to touch on a number of them in our conversation. But let me just make a couple of points up front about what I’m sure is on everyone’s mind this afternoon: the challenge posed by ISIL and our strategy to degrade and ultimately defeat it.

First, it’s important to keep perspective. ISIL is not ten feet tall – it has no state partner and its most impressive achievement to date has been to unite the entire region – and the world – against it. But it poses a serious challenge that demands a serious response. If left unchecked, ISIL would control more territory, amass more resources, attract more foreign fighters, further destabilize an already deeply unstable region, and over time, pose a growing threat.

Second, as President Obama and Secretary Kerry have made clear, this is not America’s fight alone. A successful strategy to counter ISIL – and indeed to strengthen the forces of moderation in the region – cannot be about us. It has to be about the people and governments in the region and the choices they make. This is why President Obama made the formation of a united and inclusive Iraqi government an essential prerequisite to going on the offensive against ISIL. It’s why he has insisted that we help our partners on the ground secure their own country’s future. And it’s why he has placed so much focus on building and leading a broad-based coalition of states who have a stake in this fight and the means to provide practical support.

My third point is about the coalition and the comprehensive strategy it is pursuing. Beginning this month with the NATO summit in Wales and following meetings in Baghdad, Jeddah, Cairo, Paris, and last week at the UN General Assembly in New York, we’ve worked hard to build a coalition unified around shared goals, objectives, and actions. President Obama appointed John Allen – a retired four-star general and one of our nation’s finest public servants – to oversee this effort. And already, more than 50 countries from all corners of the globe have joined the coalition and we expect others to join in the weeks and months ahead.

Together, we will deny ISIL a safe-haven by continuing to conduct carefully targeted airstrikes against its leadership, and logistical and operational capabilities, and we will impede its ability to plan, prepare, and execute attacks. We’ve already conducted more than 200 such airstrikes in Iraq, and last week, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, and Qatar joined in strikes against ISIL targets in Syria. While we target ISIL from the air, we will strengthen the capacity of our partners to push back against ISIL on the ground. President Obama sent an additional 475 military advisors to Iraq this month to support Iraqi and Kurdish forces with training, intelligence, and equipment, and to help the Government of Iraq stand up National Guard Units to help Sunni communities push back against ISIL. We will also continue and step-up our support to the moderate Syrian opposition, including through the train and equip program recently authorized by bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress.

But this is far more than just a military effort.

We also need to cut off the flow of foreign terrorist fighters into and out of the region. ISIL has recruited thousands of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria from nearly 80 countries, including over 100 Americans. These fighters pose an immediate threat to the region and a real and growing terrorism threat more broadly. Last week, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a binding resolution requiring countries to prevent and suppress funding, financing, recruiting, organizing, transporting, and equipping of foreign fighters. This resolution received the second most co-sponsors in the history of the United Nations.

Alongside this historic resolution, the coalition will press hard to accelerate global efforts to dry up ISIL’s funding, including by reducing ISIL’s revenue from oil and other plundered assets, extortion of local populations, kidnapping for ransom, and external donors.

We will also continue to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to states and societies carrying the heaviest burden from this conflict. Even before ISIL’s advance this spring, the scale and scope of the human tragedy in Syria was staggering – the world’s largest mass displacement in over three decades. ISIL’s campaign of terror has only exacerbated this tragedy, displacing over a million Iraqis and even more Syrians from their homes. The United States has been the single-largest contributor of humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people and the nations most directly affected by the refugee crisis, with nearly $3 billion in contributions since the start of the conflict. And we’ve led the way in preventing mass atrocities in Iraq. Together with our coalition partners, we will continue to assist populations in need, including vulnerable religious and ethnic minorities.

And we will continue to coordinate efforts to expose ISIL’s true nature and undercut its ideological appeal. Muslim leaders from Al-Azhar to Mecca have denounced ISIL and its false claim to be acting in the name of a great religion. We will work to amplify their efforts and to demonstrate, as President Obama said last week, that “the future belongs to those who build – not to those who destroy.”

All these steps are critical to success. But they will not have any sustainable effect on their own. There is no shortcut to getting at the roots of this moment of turbulence – the political paralysis that has failed to answer the region’s rising aspirations for dignity, political participation, and economic opportunity. Prime Minister Abadi and the new Iraqi government have outlined a bold and ambitious national program that has received broad cross-sectarian support. And it deserves international support as well. We will continue to engage diplomatically to find resolution to longstanding Sunni and Kurdish aspirations and to increase the stake of Iraq’s neighbors in its sovereignty and success. And we will continue to pursue a political transition in Syria to end this crisis once and for all.

Conclusion

If this sounds like a tall order, it is. But it is not impossible. ISIL’s advance can be blunted, and it can be rolled back – with people and leaderships in the region fully committed to working with us and our other international partners.

Sam Lewis knew as well as anyone how unforgiving the Middle East can be for American policymakers and diplomats. But he also knew that we can’t afford to pull back and retrench. There’s too much at issue right now. Together, we can degrade and defeat ISIL. Together, we can increase the odds that moderates across the region can succeed in the years ahead, that they can succeed in the great generational struggle to help open up space for pluralism and economic opportunity.

Sam would be the first to understand that we will not get every judgment right. But he also understood profoundly that we are far better off working persistently to help shape events, rather than wait for them to be shaped for us. Sam Lewis led a life of extraordinary significance in the service of our country, and all of us have been hugely honored to follow in his remarkable footsteps.

Thank you very much.