The world's poorest people
By Steve Coll
February 22, 2017
Last November, soon after the election of Donald Trump, President Barack Obama mentioned Haiti while commenting on the humanitarian aspects of American foreign policy. “Russia is a very significant military power, but they’re not worrying right now about how to rebuild after a hurricane in Haiti,” Obama noted. “We are. . . . That’s a burden we should carry proudly” ...
One set of clues lies in the early statements of Trump Cabinet figures notionally in charge of foreign policy. These are not encouraging.
On February 2nd, the day after he was sworn in as Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson addressed the State Department’s workforce in the atrium of the department’s headquarters, in Foggy Bottom. His remarks seemed barely distinguishable from the sorts of talks Tillerson routinely gave to employees at ExxonMobil, where he spent the entirety of his professional life, rising to become chairman and chief executive.
Tillerson told career diplomats that he sought “optimal outcomes” and would seek to deploy resources “in the most efficient way possible.” He didn’t pause to discuss humanitarian aid, human rights, or democracy promotion. He said that he wanted to enunciate, initially, some “principles” of his tenure ...
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-trump-means-for-the-worlds-poorest-people
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