The Foreign Service Journal, December 2010

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 45 F OCUS ON M ULT I LATERAL D I PLOMACY IO AND THE E RA OF M ULTILATERAL E NGAGEMENT President Barack Obama has spoken about the need for an era of engagement with the United Nations and other international organizations. Can you describe its out- lines and what it is intended to achieve? A. The president’s era of engagement centers on en- suring that multilateral diplomacy is core to the overall U.S. foreign policy effort. For him and his administration, this means more than just a return to the multilateral table. It means a leadership role for the United States wherever and whenever we can advance our national security. At the end of the day, we engage because multilateral diplo- macy can unlock progress on a host of transnational and global issues. We engage because international organiza- tions, including the United Nations, offer unique oppor- tunities to advance U.S. goals and objectives. Consider, for example, nonproliferation, an issue on which the president has been active and outspoken. Well before being elected president, he recognized that multi- lateral avenues were crucial to the effective management of nuclear weapons and fissile material. He therefore com- mitted the United States to working with other countries on these issues, and highlighted that commitment by work- ing to bolster the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and hosting the Nuclear Security Summit, the largest multi- lateral gathering in Washington in recent memory. Similarly, human rights are central to U.S. foreign pol- icy and a priority in the Obama administration’s return to multilateral fora. For that reason, the United States de- cided to run for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, which is a flawed body but has important responsibilities. We were elected to a seat in May 2009 — not as an end unto itself, but in recognition of the fact that the best way to advance human rights priorities, and to improve the council, is by being a leading member of the organization. I N THIS INTERVIEW , A SSISTANT S ECRETARY FOR I NTERNATIONAL O RGANIZATION A FFAIRS E STHER B RIMMER SPELLS OUT HER BUREAU ’ S PRIORITIES . B Y M ARK M. S CHLACHTER Q Assistant Secretary Esther Brimmer has headed IO since April 2009. Before that, she was deputy director and di- rector of research at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Stud- ies at the Johns Hopkins University. Mark M. Schlachter is deputy director of the office of Public Affairs and Outreach in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs. A career public diplomacy officer, he has previously served in Tanzania, Cameroon, Poland, Uganda and South Africa. He interviewed Assistant Sec- retary Brimmer on Oct. 18. :