By AMY HARDER
The latest round of violence in the Middle East has provided a timely backdrop for today's United States Institute of Peace conference examining the foreign policy challenges facing President-elect Barack Obama. At least brief mentions of the conflict found their way into several speeches at the Washington Convention Center, including those by former Defense Secretary William Perry and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in the first half of the daylong program.
It also kept away one of the program's keynote speakers: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, slated to speak early in the day, was held up in New York with the U.N. Security Council. Henrietta Fore, director of foreign assistance at the State Department and administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, spoke on Rice's behalf. The outgoing secretary is "working around the clock to end the violence in Gaza," Fore said. She also said the Middle East conflict offers a "fascinating and timely discussion as we transition to the new administration."
The rest of the morning's program centered on the danger that nuclear weapons present to the U.S. Perry, who served as Defense secretary under President Clinton, delivered a somber speech about the threat of nuclear proliferation, especially from countries like Iran and North Korea. "I have a strong belief that the gravest danger our nation faces today is a terror group detonating a nuclear bomb in one of our cities," Perry said.
He expressed optimism about the incoming president, saying there are "actions Obama can take to move us in a direction in a world with no nuclear weapons," including inviting Russia to join the U.S. in its stand against nuclear proliferation. These actions, he added, can be achieved within the new administration's first year. But while Perry ended on an encouraging note, saying the country is on a "positive track," he wasn't shy in predicting trouble ahead. "President Obama will almost certainly face a serious crisis with Iran," he said. "Indeed, I believe that the crisis point will be reached in his first year of office."
Continue reading Gaza, Nuclear Weapons Take Early Focus At USIP Conference.
