[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] . . >> midterm elections are about two weeks away. each night we are showing debates from key races around the country. here is our lineup for tonight. live at 8:00 eastern the west virginia debate. later, the first of three house races, wisconsin's seventh district followed by 11th district of illinois. we have links to other related web pages at c-span.org/ politics. >> this week, daniel reed on the future of human interaction with computers and his company's role in technology and software. tonight on c-span2. >> in the final weeks at camp in 2010, at the c-span video library is a great resource for voters. the c-span video library of free online anytime. the secretary of state, hillary clinton, spoke to the commonwealth club of california just ovfor just over an hour on friday. she spoke about relations with china, the afghan peace process, and u.s. cooperation in helping mexico fight drug violence. [applause] as you all know, secretary clayton has distinguished herself over four decades of public service as an advocate for human rights, skilled attorney, first lady of arkansas, and of our great nation and united states senator from the great state of new york. [applause] secretary clayton joined the state department in january 2009 and since taking on this sand very serious post test is its 64 countries around the world. she has work on strengthening america's relationship with other nations and advancing the concepts of democracy and civil society. please join me in welcoming secretary clinton. [applause] >> good evening. this is such a great treat to be back in san francisco. it is somewhat disconcerting because this is only the third place in the united states that i have spoken since i became secretary of state. in [applause] the first place, which some may question whether it is still in the united states, it is of course washington where i of spoken several times, and hawaii on my way to asia. i have been invited to come to the commonwealth club many times over the years, and was unable to accept the kind invitation, but i thought it would be inappropriate time for me to have this conversation. -- but i thought it would be an appropriate time for me to have this conversation. but i want to thank all of the officers and members of the commonwealth club. it is a great treat to see the former secretary of defense, bill perry and his wife right here in the front row. and i welcome them. [applause] i know, even though i cannot see much beyond the third row, that there are a lot of other friends. i am so pleased to be here with all of you. mostly this is going to be a conversation, but i wanted to make a few points, because i think it is important to give you a bit of an overview of what we have been trying to do since january sai 2009. clearly for me as secretary of state, it is a primary mission to elevate diplomacy and development alongside defense so that we have an integrated foreign-policy in support of our national security in furtherance of our interests and values. that seems self-evident when i say it tonight here in this gathering, but it is actually quite challenging to do. it is challenging for several reasons. first, because of the diplomacy of our nation, which has been from the very beginning one of the principal tools of what we do, has never been fully and well understood by the general public. it appears in the minds of many to be official meetings, mostly conducted by men and three-piece suits with other men and government buildings and palaces to end wars and all kinds of impasses. and of course, there is still that element, not only with men but the work of diplomacy is still in the traditional mode, but it is so much more today, because it is also imperative that we engage in public diplomacy, reaching out to not just leaders, but the citizens of the countries with whom we engage because even in authoritarian regimes public opinion matters. in our interconnected world it matters in ways that are even more important. ho we have tried to use the tools of technology to expand their roles of diplomacy. similarly with the appointment, i have long been a passionate about what our assistance programs mean around the world, how they represent the very best of the generosity spirit of the american people. u.s.a.i.d. did so much good work in the 1960's an 1970's. the green revolution, that absolutely extraordinary commitment that the united states, researchers an agricultural scientist made to improving agricultural or around the world transformed the way people were able to see themselves and build a better future. when an overtime, it became hollowed out -- over time it became hallowed out when became subcontracting mechanism. the work that used to be done by development experts housed in the u.s. government became a much more part of contracting out twiswith ngo's, so the reputation was no longer what it needed to be. when i came into office of secretary of state, i sort of follow the example of the defense department, which has for many years conducted what is called the defense review. when i was in the senate, i served on the senate arms forces committee. i realized what a tool this could be. -- i realize what a great tool this could be. it helped to guide to what it was that our country would be doing for the next four years when it came to the nation's defense, so i embarked on the first ever diplomacy development review, which will come out by the end of this year. it is quite an undertaking to do it for the first time, because you have to question all of your assumptions to figure out how to present what we do best. in to set forth a vision -- and to set forth a vision with strategies that will take us where we want to go as a nation. i am also working very hard to make it non-partisan. certainly our national commitment to defense is non- partisanship and has bipartisan support in the congress, and i want the same for diplomacy and development. one aspect of what we're doing to promote diplomacy and development that is quite new and has special importance for the bay area is our emphasis on innovation and use of technology. we have been working very hard for the last 20 months to bring into the work we do the advances that many of the companies and the innovators here in california have brought to business, have brought to communications and particular. innovation is one of america's greatest values and products, and we are very committed to working with scientists and researchers and others to look for new ways to develop hardier crops or live-saving drugs at affordable cost, working with engineers for new sources of clean energy or clean water to both i.s.m. and climate change and also to improve the standard of living for people. social and entrepreneurs who marry capitalism and philanthropy are using the power of the free market to drive social and economic progress. here we see a great advantage that the united states has that we're putting to work in our everyday thinking and our reached around the world. let me give you a couple of examples, because the new communication tools that all of you and i use as a matter of course are helping to connect and empower civil society leaders, democracy activists, and everyday citizens, even in closed societies. earlier this year in syria, young students witnessed shocking physical abuse for tby their studentteachers. a decade earlier the students would have just suffered those beatings and violence. the students had two secret weapons, cell phones and the internet. they recorded videos and posted them on facebook, even though the site is officially banned in syria. the public backlash against dissidents was so swift and vocal that the government had to remove them from their positions. [applause] that is why the united states and the obama administration is such a strong advocate for the freedom to connect. earlier this year i gave a speech about our commitment to internet freedom, which if you think about it, is the freedom to assemble, the freedom to freely express yourself, the right of all people to connect to the internet into each other to access information, share their views, participate in global debate. i am well aware that telecommunications is not any silver bullet, and these technologies can be used for repressive purposes, but all over the world we see their promise. we're working to leverage the power and potential in what i call 21st century statecraft. part of our approach is to embrace new tools. kebbel we are also reaching to the people behind these tools, the innovators and entrepreneurs themselves. we know that many business leaders want to promote some of their companies' expertise to help solve problems around the world, but they often do not know how to do that. what is the point of entry? which ideas would have the most impact? we are increasing new public /private partnerships that link on the ground experience of diplomats with the energy and resources of the business community. one of my first acts as secretary was to appoint a special representative for global partnerships. we have brought the allegations of technology leaders to mexico and colombia, iraq, in syria as well as india and russia to meet with activists, teachers, doctors and so many wmore. josh nesbitt joined a state department delegation to colombia. on the trip he learned firsthand about one of the biggest problems in the country's rural areas, injuries and deaths from unexploded land mines. he was so moved that this month he is going back to work with the government, local telecom companies on at mobile application that would allow colombians to report the location of land mines so they can be disposed of safely. similarly in washington will bring together experts from various fields to join us and working on some of these big foreign-policy challenges. last year we held our first state conferences. just last week, the cell phone industry around the world convened a group to talk about how to advocate for girls and women to put access to cell phones. it is a new initiative called "m women." [applause] at usaid we are pursuing market- driven solutions that really look to see how to involve the business community, and we have just unveiled a new venture capital style fund called, development, innovation ventures, which will invest and creative ideas that we think can lead to teen-changing innovations in development. as part of our first round of financing, the fund has already invested in solar lighting in rural hugh landa, and an affordable electric bicycle that doubles as a portable power source. the door is open to each and everyone of you. i just met with a group from twitter, and i know there are million ideas that are born every day here. if you have a good idea, we will listen. despite all the progress we have made, but we cannot take for granted that the united states will still lead in the innovation race. we're working to foster innovation at home and promote it abroad, and president obama has set a goal of devoting 3% of our gross domestic product of research and development. [applause] to ensure that by 2020 week regain the position that we held for decades, which we have lost, namely, having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. we need to make sure that american companies have the incentives they need to keep innovating. companies must be assured that if they sell their products around the world, they do so without the fear of piracy, the intellectual property rights are protected, and the rule of law applies to everyone equally. in our efforts over the past 20 months we have been raising these issues at the highest levels across the globe. we cannot do this alone. we need your help. one way to contribute is by joining one of the new public/private partnerships i have described. we've recently launched a new mentoring program, call tech women haed tech women. women will spend five weeks gaining skills and experiences and california. just this week twitter joined the program and i hope many more will follow. i urge you to become involved with the social entrepreneurs or movement. there is money to be made through socially responsible investments. putting financial and social capital to work is one of our goals. next year we will host a conference for social entrepreneurs and investors in washington. most of all, we just once to let you know that when i talk about diplomacy and development in the 21st century, it is not just what i do when i go off to asia or africa or latin america or anywhere else, it is what we all do. because i am convinced that it is not only are connections through government that will really turn the course of the 21st century, but indeed it is the people to people connections, and there is not anyone anywhere who does not know that our free, it dynamic society was so many opportunities for people does not in some way hold out both promise and example for them. whether you care about haiti where we have work from the very beginning of the disaster to help with relief and reconstruction, or whether you care about the violence in mexico from the drug cartels and helping to put together an anonymous crime reporting tip lines so that citizens can report what they see and learn without fear of being exposed, or whether you care about national treasures like those in iraq that were in danger-over the last several years so we worked with the national museum and global map google maps to sd engineers to baghdad to take 15,000 pictures to catalog the antiquities that were in danger of being lost, or whether you care about empowering young people or mobile justice and the democratic republic of congo, the site of some of the most terrific gender and sexual-based violence in the world. we're planning a project to use technology to facilitate justice for survivals of violence and and eastern condo. whatever it is you care about, we want you to know there is a place for you to become involved in work with us at the state department, because i believe strongly that you each to complete a role in helping us chart a better future. thank you all very much. [applause] >> thank you for coming. welcome to the commonwealth club. you know had to draw a big audience for sure. -- how to draw a big audience for sure. freedom house as an index of freedom around the world. this year that came out and said there have been four years of decline in freedom of round the world, which is the worst they have seen and the 40 years they have been measuring best. they said that half the world is free. given all the things you talked about, the trend of freedom seems to not be going in the positive direction. >> i think there is a worrisome trend, that despite a lot of the advances i was just talking about and the tools of communication that has such potential for empowering and liberated people to pursue their own goals in life, there are some counter trends, and we see effort by government to prevent the access to information that we believe is a fundamental value and freedom. we see governments that believe democracy consists of having won the election -- one election, and that is it. a lot of progress that was being made to promote democracy was not firmly embedded in the societies that have know experience with what it means to have a democracy, the establishment of institutions from a free press to an independent judiciary, protection of minority rights. we also see that even in very developed democracies that have always prized freedom and their right to privacy, there are new threats, such as the threat of terrorism that has caused governments around the world to become much more cautious and careful and tried to keep their citizens eightsafe and time impd regulations that this chip away at the citizens' freedoms. i still believe the trend lines are positive, but you cannot take them for granted. >> thomas friedman believes there is a correlation with the price of oil and freedom around the world. that higher oil prices regions do you think the price of oil has an influence on freedom -- to you think the price of oil has an influence on freedom? >> there has been a correlation between the hunts to for nation for national resources ad attitudes taken by governments that have those resources to has been them and protect them, but i do not think it is just that. there are other aspects of society that are rooted in their own history and culture that contribute to that. it is fair to say that there is a so-called oil curse. when countries discovered oil, start marketing that oil, is they are not called loughthoughr visionary, very often it becomes a small leak that benefits from that. the benefits are not broadly shared. the progress of democracy and freedom is halted. the necessity for democracy to deliver services for people in order to maintain the support for a new democracy is unfortunately diminished. there is certainly a connection in some places. in some places it is more obvious than others. >> you said the 70's were the glory years. how will this really be different than past reforms of the mechanism? >> it is going to be a much more comprehensive effort to rebuild usaid. in order to do that we have to have a clear focus of our mission. in the president's speech by the united nations the president laid out of focus on trying to enhance economic growth, and build middle-class is around the world, because that does correlate with stability and increasing political freedom and democracy historically. it also means doing a really hard scrum of usaid. -- really hard scrub of usaid. we're working hard to try to streamline the delivery of aid. i will give you an example. we have 24 different agencies that provide some sort of aid, development aid. it makes it difficult to speed with and that sort of faded voice in the country and to avoid redundancy -- to speak with an authoritative voice in the country and to avoid redundancy. you may go to another place and with the u.s.a. i deprogram get your children immunized. you may go to another place to try to uphold -- to try to get health care for pregnancy and labor and delivery. you may go to another place and try to get health with your crops to get fertilizer and seed. we have all of these parallel structures. the problem is if you are an ambassador in the country and secretary of state, if you call everyone that works directly for the government or on contract that is working in development to come together, as i have done in the past, i guarantee you that people in the room often do not know each other and rarely work with each other. at some point that is not a sustainable model. in our own tough budget times, i have to be able to not just come and speak to the commonwealth club, but also make the case to the american public and congress that these investments are in furtherance of our security values and interests and that we're born to be good stewards of the tax dollars. we're looking through the diplomacy and development review that will be coming out at the end of the year, we're looking to start in motion reforms and how we do the business that will actually give us more impact for what we do, and be very good stewards of the tax dollars that are provided to us. >> people talk about cross agency collaboration, but will this really change? >> i will give you one example. one of my priorities and the president's priority was to figure out how to rationalize and better coordinate what we did to end hunger and promote food security. starting right after i got there, i asked my chief of staff, cheryl mills, to run a government-why'd process, which meant bringing the department of agricultural anin. -- starting right after i got there, i asked my