The Foreign Service Journal, June 2006

Phil Bliss 28 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 6 ecretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s Jan. 18, 2006, speech at Georgetown University on transformational diplomacy can be taken as one bookend of the new U.S. foreign policy. In it, Sec. Rice noted that the “fundamental character of regimes now matters more than the international distribution of power.” She ended her speech by reminding the audience that “democracy is hard and democracy takes time.” The other bookend could be identified as USAID’s January 2004 White Paper , “U.S. Foreign Aid: Meeting the F O C U S O N T H E F U T U R E O F U S A I D F OREIGN A ID P OLICY : O LD W INE IN N EW B OTTLES ? S A SHIFT TO FOSTERING INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE , RATHER THAN PROVIDING DIRECT AID , WILL MEET BUREAUCRATIC RESISTANCE . B Y T HOMAS D ICHTER