What is more important is that Foreign Service Officers understand business, about the needs of U.S. business and how to help U.S. companies make the right connections abroad.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Any Ambassador or Foreign Service Officer who has his or her head screwed on right knows that the U.S. position in the world is far more dependent on our ability to compete in world markets.
Business leaders should provide expertise in service of our country. My predecessors at GE have done so, as have leaders of many other great American companies.
Now there is a cultural change under way in the Foreign Service.
In light of the recent controversy surrounding foreign management of U.S. Ports, a thorough review of foreign management of U.S. airports needs to occur.
With foreign officials come foreign merchants, and with foreign merchants come foreign soldiers. They will usurp our authority and influence to begin with, and in the course of time, our guests will have become our hosts.
Working overseas is more difficult in that it's much more complicated to get people to open their hearts to you and to tell you information.
The nation will benefit in the long term if it continues to be open to foreign expertise. This will help the country to establish its business culture and environment faster, based on international best practice.
As far as the international issues are concerned, the most important thing is the state of the transatlantic relationships, Euro-Atlantic relationships: how to develop them and how to strengthen them further.
Foreign policy will require a strategic agility that, whenever possible, gets ahead of problems, strengthens U.S. security and alliances, and promotes American interests and credibility.
The focus of my administration is, if somebody decides to work abroad, then it has to be from choice as opposed to necessity.
No opposing quotes found.