Washington: Asserting that America will continue to build people-to-people relationships that help foster trust between cultures, Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday said the US will not pull back from the world.
"I`ve got news for you today, and I have news to share with America. We will not pull back," Kerry said in his address to Foreign Service Institute during a seminar on Security Overseas.
"We`re going to keep practicing what my father called foreign policy outdoors, working directly with men and women around the world, from government officials and local leaders to civil society groups and ordinary people on the street," he said.
"We`re going to build the people-to-people relationships that help to foster trust and understanding between cultures. We are going to make that sort of engagement even stronger," Kerry said.
Noting that diplomacy and security do not have to be trade-offs, he said US President Barack Obama has worked to strike a balance that ensures the outreach and engagement necessary to advance US policies and interests in accordance with security measures necessitated by the threats to American interests.
Kerry said, later this week Obama will discuss US counter-terrorism strategy, and also the balance which his administration has sought to strike.
"The challenges of the 21st century are just plain more complex than they were in the latter part of the last century. And the fact is that the opportunities that we face are greater than any that we have encountered in our history. I am convinced of that," he said.
Overseas, the US needs to keep deepening the relationships, the friendships, and forging the relationships that will benefit the American people around the world.
The US under Obama Administration, he said, is determined to stand up for its values, interests and futures, because those values and interests -- justice and freedom, opportunity for all people -- they have always been a beacon for people who aspire to a better life.
"We`re going to continue to be out there, not just because that defines us as Americans but because we know that`s how you build a world that respects human rights, dignity, promotes rule of law and ultimately fosters opportunity for those burgeoning populations of young people, more and more of them under the age of 30, the dominant, majority components of populations across the Middle East and elsewhere, all of whom need jobs and need a future," Kerry said.
"Our democracy will be strengthened when our allies are strong and when we engage with their governments as well as with men and women in all walks of life," Kerry said.
PTI
