Seriously–Two Hours in Line for Car License Plates?

I am still processing the reality that I am now home for good after three plus decades of constant packing and unpacking and bouncing between home and abroad.  First of all:  It is great to be back!  I have spent a diplomatic career extolling the dynamism, leadership and just sheer true grit of our society, and I am amazed to see how tough, resilient and still optimistic we Americans are after more than a decade of personal and national setbacks, and for too many,  real tragedies.  A lesser people would have crumbled under the pressure.  We have not.

In a few weeks we will chose our next President and other government leaders.  With the end of a long election season, the work on America’s recovery will not only continue, but intensify.  We will have to overcome political differences over the how and who and move forward — fast.  There is so much work to do!  Growing the economy and keeping our country safe are the overriding goals, but we will have to get specific on details.  As we look at other countries outperforming us in education and manufacturing or trade, it is clear that we have our work cut out for us.  We are so used to being ahead of the rest of the world that it is hard for us to have to talk about “catching up.”  So let’s not.  Let’s vault ahead, rather than just catch up to others.

Among the many macro challenges we will have to overcome,  here is a small sampling of seemingly small things that would have a big signal effect if we showed the world and ourselves a better way.  See what you think.

E-Governance:  Obtaining government services at any level in our country is much harder and old-fashioned than it should be in the 21st century.  We need state-of-the-art, fast, simple, service oriented access to our government, from obtaining vehicle license plates to passports; from mining permits to export licenses.  I just returned from tiny 21st century Estonia to vast and sometimes turn-of-the century America.  Estonians have a comfortable, even trusting relationship with their government, not because they spend a lot of time dealing with their bureaucracy, but because they spend very little.  Government services are delivered mostly electronically and fast, without long waiting lines, limited service hours, or complicated paperwork.  Most services can be obtained sitting in a comfortable easy chair at home with a laptop, tablet or smartphone, while enjoying a favorite beverage.

Wireless Communications:  I finally have my new iPhone 5, my home internet connection, and I can find he nearest Starbuck’s with free WiFi.  All good, and many around the world envy us for the technology we have invented and put in place.  But in fact our internet access is slower and/or more expensive than in other proudly “wired” — or better — “wireless” countries.  Too often during my once again daily commute from the Washington suburbs into the capital of the United States, I am faced with the “can you hear me now?” problem as my — hands free — phone connection suddenly drops put.  Outside the Beltway it is even worse.  In Estonia, broadband wireless access throughout the country — at little or no cost — is a given.  The internet is a utility, as universally available and affordable as water, electricity and indoor plumbing.  We still grit our teeth paying a hefty charge for slow internet access in top hotels in the country that invented the internet!

Cyber Security/Privacy Protection:  I spent a solid amount of my time as Ambassador on national and international cyber security issues.  It is a hot topic in diplomatic, military and international law enforcement circles.  Our leaders warn of potential “Cyber Attack Pearl Harbors.”  Serious stuff and deserving of its high national security priority.

On an individual level, protecting ourselves from identity theft and other forms of cyber crime is of similar importance.  In that latter area, the question is not whether we shield ourselves, but how.  We do what we can with computer virus detection software, encryption packages, and dozens of passwords with every internet entity from on-line stores to our banks and our digital media subscriptions.  We live on the internet, and we live with a confusing array of what we hope are adequate security and privacy protections.  Dozens or even hundreds of interloctutors in cyberspace have large chunks of our personal data and all promise “iron clad protection.”  Really?

Estonians too are fully vested in the internet age.  They embrace the reality that we work, live, shop, interact and play in cyberspace.  But  they have decided to entrust the security of these interactions, including access to government and commercial services, to a national identity access card — a most difficult subject to raise here in the U.S.   We start to shiver when we hear “national ID card” and “government central database.”  I readily share our wariness of “big brother.”   But I have concluded that big brother already exists in multiple databases that all too readily share  information to make big brother larger and more unpredictable than any single, user monitored and legally secured personal identity system would.  My friends in Estonia repeatedly demonstrated to me the utility of their ID cards as well as the electronic fingerprints they were able to monitor of those who had accessed their data, including even the police.

So I did spend two and a half hours at my local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in order to get my car license plates  – something I should have been able to do by inserting my ID card into a license plate vending machine similar to an ATM in about 2 minutes.   Of course my gripe is not simply about waiting in line for a government service or even slow or expensive internet access.  It is my concern that  what should be America’s leadership as a modern, agile, and innovative society is in a bit of a rut.  I am among those who believe in American exceptionalism — not arrogantly placing us above other nations, but accepting and exercising the unique role or country’s founders placed on our shoulders as visionaries and innovators.  The citizens of Ronald Reagan’s “Shining City on a Hill” should not be waiting hours at the DMV and the people of Madeline Albright’s “Indispensable Nation” should not have to shout into their smart phones “can you hear me now?”

A Diplomat’s New Life

I am back.  On July 22 this year I departed Estonia for the last time as U.S. Ambassador and launched the transition from 35 years in my country’s Diplomatic Service into my new life as a private sector diplomat.  On October 1, I joined the new McCain Institute for International Leadership as Senior Director.  Located in Washington, D.C. and supported initially by a $9 million gift from the McCain Institute Foundation, we are part of Arizona State University (ASU), America’s largest public university.  Our mission is to advance leadership based on security, economic opportunity, freedom, and human dignity, in the United States and around the world.

I will be directing a unique new global leadership fellows program that will bring emerging leaders from around the world to the U.S. to engage in a year-long deepening of their “character-driven” leadership skills, along with professional development in their respective fields.  As an ASU Professor, I will also be passing on 35 years of diplomatic and international leadership experience to the next  generation of U.S. and international foreign affairs leaders.

And of course the issues and subjects that have been important to me in the past continue to excite me in my new capacity:  cyber security, e-governance, U.S. global leadership, the trans-Atlantic relationship, American values, and technology and policy, to name just a few.  Thank you for your patience with my temporary absence from the blogosphere and stay tuned — you will hear from me on these and many other issues again from now on.  Follow me and the McCain Institute also on Twitter and Facebook.

Free Press = Free Society

Information is power. Few people can make a living, hold their governments accountable, and educate their children without a healthy supply of free- flowing information. Citizens need accurate, timely, independent news they can trust. So do businesses and markets. And so do governments. Media freedom keeps societies and economies vibrant, energetic, and healthy. When the free flow of news and information is cut off, individuals suffer. Societies suffer. Economies suffer.

But even as we observe World Press Freedom Day this year, threats against journalists are rising. As of last December, the Committee to Protect Journalists counted 179 reporters in jail around the world. And journalists continue to be threatened, attacked, disappeared, or murdered for trying to report the news.

In the past year, the world witnessed both the promise of, and the peril to, a free press. Throughout the Middle East and North Africa, journalists, bloggers, filmmakers and pundits chronicled the protests sweeping across the region, while some citizens armed with nothing but cell phones risked their lives to upload the truth – by text, tweet, and pixel. In doing so, they were exercising a fundamental freedom enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Yet too many governments attempt to censor the media, directly or indirectly. Too many investigative journalists are being silenced, many for exposing corruption – at local, state, or national government levels. Too many attacks and murders of journalists go unpunished.  In some cases, it is not just governments attacking, intimidating, and threatening journalists. It’s also criminals – drug cartels – terrorists or political factions. When journalists are threatened, attacked, jailed, or disappeared, other journalists self-censor. They stop reporting stories. They tone down stories. They omit details. Sources stop helping them. Their editors hesitate to print stories. Fear replaces truth. All of our societies suffer.

Like Estonia, the United States looks to all governments to take the steps necessary to create the same space we Americans and Estonians have enshrined in our societies for independent journalists to do their work without fear of violence or persecution. We pay special tribute to those courageous journalists, bloggers, and citizens who have sacrificed their lives, health, or freedom so that others could know the truth. And we honor the role of free and independent media in creating sustainable democracies and open, healthy societies.

Honoring Women in an Age of Participation

Secretary of State Clinton has noted that “What we are learning around the world is that if women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish. And when families flourish, communities and nations will flourish.” These words have particular relevance as we celebrate International Women’s Day around the world and as we continue to make strides for women’s progress.

On December 10th, 2011, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three extraordinary women who have led the fight for human rights and democracy in their home countries – President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen. Their achievement signifies recognition on the world stage of the essential role that women must play in the hard work of building peace and sustainable communities in the 21st century.

In December, President Obama released the first-ever U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, charting a roadmap for how the United States will accelerate and institutionalize efforts across the government to advance women’s participation in preventing conflict and keeping peace. This initiative represents a fundamental change in how the U.S. will approach its diplomatic, military, and development-based support to women in areas of conflict, by ensuring that their perspectives and considerations of gender are woven into the fabric of how the United States approaches peace processes, conflict prevention, the protection of civilians, and humanitarian assistance.

This International Women’s Day, Secretary Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama will host the 6th annual International Women of Courage Awards, honoring 10 remarkable women from around the world. These women have shown exceptional bravery and leadership in advocating for women’s rights and empowerment, often at great personal risk. Their stories represent just a few of the emerging leaders found in every corner of the world.

Yet, as we rightfully honor achievements, we must also be reminded that International Women’s Day is an opportunity to renew the call for action, investment, and commitment to women’s equality. We are at a moment of historic opportunity. Secretary Clinton has referred to this era as “the Participation Age”. This is a time where every individual, regardless of gender or other characteristics, is poised to be a contributing and valued member of their society.

Around the world, we are witnessing examples of the Participation Age.  I have been privileged to meet a large number of Estonia’s remarkable women, women who led Estonia into freedom and women who spearhead this country’s political, diplomatic, business and artistic communities today.  Estonian women are no less than the very foundation of a society that has suffered much throughout history and has persevered and emerged victorious.  Estonian women rock!

Women are also a cornerstone of America’s foreign policy because the simple fact is that no country can hope to move ahead if it is leaving half of its people behind. Women and girls drive our economies. They build peace and prosperity.  Investing in them means investing in global economic progress, political stability, and greater prosperity for everyone – the world over.  As we honor them today, let us renew our resolve to work for the cause of equality each and every day of the year.

 

Internet Freedom AND Intellectual Property Rights

The positive power of the internet has changed the paradigm of international diplomacy, of global governance, and indeed the human condition.  Secretary of State Clinton articulated most clearly last year that the United States, “On the spectrum of internet freedom, [places itself] on the side of openness.”

Over the course of the last several weeks, interested parties in America and around the world have reacted strongly for or against efforts in the U.S. to maintain internet freedom while attempting to find a way to protect the vested property rights that creators, artists, and engineers have in their product.  At issue were two proposed pieces of legislation called the Stop Online Piracy Act (“SOPA”) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (“PIPA.”) Amongst all the complexity of this issue is a rather clear goal we Americans share with our democratic partners and friends around the world:  Full, unfettered and free access to the internet by the global citizenry AND the protection of the intellectual wealth of our innovators and creative minds from on-line theft.  

As we seek to address both of these interests, it should come as no surprise that our efforts of protecting intellectual property online cause legitimate attention to the scope of any regulation of the internet.  Of course neither our government nor the American people wish unintentionally to provide a pretext to those who wish to suppress democratic rights under the guise of “legal protections.”  Once completed, U.S. legislation that would protect the rights of American intellectual property and internet freedom would likewise serve to protect such rights and values the world over.  Again, Secretary of State Clinton has confirmed that “there is no contradiction between intellectual property rights protection and enforcement and ensuring freedom of expression on the Internet.”

The White House meanwhile has set U.S. Administration policy regarding intellectual property legislation, stating that while piracy is a serious problem on the internet, the President will not support any proposed legislation that would reduce freedom of expression or otherwise detract from the Internet’s potential.  Both the President and our Congress have called for legislation that is narrowly-tailored with a focus on criminal activity.  Such tailoring should address U.S. and international concerns about internet freedom and its liberating role for people seeking free expression and democratic rule from one corner of the world to the other.

Two important engines of America’s economy, represented by places like Hollywood and Silicon Valley, and their international counterparts, should work together and help tailor workable laws in all our countries that will protect property rights, freedom of speech, and internet assembly.

Eliminating Violence Against Women

Women in every society, in every corner of the globe, still suffer a disproportionate amount of the inequities that exist today. And more often than not, they suffer those inequities at the hands of men.  In too many parts of the world, women are victims of domestic violence, are being trafficked and sold into sexual slavery, or are subjected to the horror of genital mutilation.

So today I want to lend my male voice to the call of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to speak out on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This must not be a day of women demanding their rights while we men stand idly by. Nor can it be a single day commitment.

Not only because men have long had a dominant role in our societies are we the ones who have a special responsibility to shout out for the rights of women. It is also a simple matter of fairness, justice, and decency.  We men need to step forward to demand and protect the inviolable rights of our mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends that we have always insisted on for ourselves.  Women’s rights begin with freedom from fear of violence and oppression in any and all of its forms.

And gentlemen, as Americans and Estonians, as proud citizens of modern democracies, we can do even more than just demand the right thing.  We can recommit ourselves to deepening our global partnership of concerted action on behalf of the other 50% of humanity.

 

The Importance of International Schools

Everyone is talking education these days.  Education for the very youngest of our children.  Secondary education.  Higher education, and adult learning.  International education is an important subset of all of these discussions.  For international families in the business, NGO, military, and diplomatic sectors, international primary and secondary education is not just important, it is essential.  As these “nomadic professionals”  circle the globe with little time spent (as little as one or two years) in any one location, they desperately search out consistency for their children’s education:  an International School.  The presence of such a school thus becomes a critical asset for any country that wants to play on the international economic and politial scene and attract the players that play on there.

An truly international school offers offers kindergarden through high school education of an international standard that transfers easily from country to country and continent to continent.  The International Baccelaureate (IB) offers this universal standard with some 900,000 IB students in 140 countries around the world.  An international school has an international faculty, uses English as the primary common language of instruction, and offers wide flexibility for students to enter and leave school at other than standard starting and completion points.  For students not yet ready to function in English, support programs quickly bring them up to speed.  Finally, international schools must be fully adaptive to accomodate students at all levels of learning ability, including students with special needs.  In other words, international schools do not have the luxury of simply picking the best and letting “the system” take care of those less capable.  There is no other “system” for nomadic professionals.

So what’s the problem?  Well, international schools are expensive to run.  Unless a host government helps finance such international education, tuition costs become prohibitive for professionals whose organizations, companies, or governments do not pick up the tab.  As an American “diplomatic nomad” for the past 35 years, I have faced the challenge, if not the cost, of international education for my children around the world.  I was always fortunate that my government covered the cost of our extraordinary education needs.  And I found that the countries that offered the best international education were also the best centers of foreign direct investment and important platforms for international diplomacy and civic society activity.  Estonia has one truly comprehensive, but small  international school, and ongoing ambitions in global business, government, and civic endeavors.  Twenty years into Estonia’s amazing growth as a free, independent, prosperous, and highly modern nation, now is the time to decide whether the country is interested in supporting and sustaining its unique international education platform for the long-term.

Seizing the Future in the Balkans

This week the people of Kosovo and Serbia have sadly faced another set of violent incidents where those dedicated to peace have been harmed as a result of Serb mob action, and backward-looking political agendas.  NATO peacekeepers were injured, as were Kosovars and Serbs dedicated to putting an end to hatred and violence.  Estonia, its EU partners, and the U.S. and NATO have all called for the obvious from the Serbian and Kosovar governments:  fully engage in the EU-facilitated dialog process and refrain from precipitous actions, inflamatory rhetoric, and impediments  to freedom of movement.  And obviously, don’t attack KFOR peacekeepers or aid workers.  Pretty clear.

Amazing then that exactly the opposite occurred on September 27 and 28.  A violent Serb mob attacked a NATO-led KFOR unit.  A multi-ethnic group of USAID -supported community workers was similarly attacked.  What is it that the attackers don’t understand?  The U.S.  and Estonia — the EU and NATO — stand united in not allowing a better future for Kosovars and Serbs to be denied.  Their rights to a successful, Europe-integrated tomorrow are paramount.  The narrow and retrograde interests of some will not be satisfied.

As current U.S. Ambassador to Estonia and former U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, for me the contrast between a people seizing the future and others being allowed to descend into a dark past is particularly poignant.  Estonians suffered  50 years of occupation — much harsher than anything experienced in the former Yugoslavia prior to the wars of the 1990′s.  Since regaining its independence only 20 years ago, Estonia has remade itself into one of the most successful and progressive countries in Europe, in the EU, in NATO, in the world today.  The long-suffering people of Serbia and Kosovo deserve a chance at similar success.  We cannot let mobs and mob mentality deny them their rightful place in the 21st century among their fellow European and American friends.

A Quiet People With A Powerful Voice

Ever since my arrival as U.S. Ambassador to Estonia on a frosty winter evening in 2009, I have been confronted with the loud volume of the Estonian people’s silence.  For a typically extrovert American, keeping a conversation going in this country can often be challenging.  That is until the American learns the power of Estonian silence and the astounding success and rebirth of freedom in a nation that quietly never gave up on re-independence throughout decades of occupation.  On August 20, 2011, my wife Hallie and I will be joining our Estonian friends in celebrating their 20-year miracle of  success.  Tens of thousands of Estonians will take part in events in Tallinn and throughout the country in what is expected to be the most visible (and even loudest) outpouring of patriotism by the Estonian people in a decade.

At a time of considerable political and economic turbulence throughout Europe and in the United States, it is particularly poignant to celebrate not only Estonia’s existence as a free country, but also its standing as a proud nation in the 21st century.  Emerging today from the most recent world-wide recession, Estonia is almost everything so many other countries today are not.  First of all, Estonia and its government are solvent.  With negligible national debt and an equally insignificant government budget deficit, Estonia is part of a very small group of countries that can lay claim to economic health and positive prospects.  There are of course challenges, including high unemployment, inflation, and unmet demands for better salaries and a social service improvements.  But in comparison to apocalyptic headlines, such as Time Magazine’s most recent cover proclaiming “The Decline and Fall of Europe,” Estonia stands apart.  No one  here believes that Europe is about to fall, and more than 70 percent of Estonians fully support their country’s adoption of the stressed Euro.

Meanwhile, Estonia stands ready with scant complaint to do (and pay) its part to help Europe overcome its ongoing debt crisis.  And for the part of Europe that is still struggling with its democractic, economic, and social development, Estonia has invested both its expertise and resources to help out.  Estonians are also fighting and sacrificing from Afghanstan to the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.  When asked “why does your small country do so much,’”  leaders here are a bit taken aback, explaining that nations and people stood by them during the darkest hours of occupation and its payback time!

Estonians see the problems on their and our side of the Atlantic with traditional stoicism.  Privately, I suspect, they wonder why the rest of us are so slow in implementing to them obvious solutions.  They have seen much worse and not only survived, but excelled.  For Estonians, there are no problems that can’t be surmounted with stubborn commitment to the solutions, no matter how painful they may be.  Their experience, looking at their past, is to live for the future – focussed and most of all – quietly.  I am really looking forward to being quiet tomorrow, together with our wise Estonian friends.

Happy Anniversary Estonia!

Security And Safety Inside 21st Century Democracies

Tallinn experienced a security scare last week as an explosives carrying gunman threatened the staff of the Estonian Ministry of Defense.  With characteristic resolute competence, Estonian security forces ended the threat by shooting the gunman while ensuring that no innocent life was lost.  Other than the press, few people outside the capital of this peaceful and law abiding country were even aware of the dramatic and deadly event in the Ministry.  That’s both good, but also something to think about.  My family, my colleagues in our Embassy, and I are certainly enjoying the hospitality, the beauty, and the relative safety of this country.   I can’t imagine that Estonians loose a lot of sleep over the safety of their cities, towns and villages, or their homes and their families.  They have little reason to.  But as last week’s incident demonstrated, there is no such thing as “it can’t happen here.” 

In America and for Americans, as well as for many others, tragically, it has happened.  Not all that long ago, we would never have contemplated taking of our shoes off in an airport or walking through metal detectors to visit a museum.  Visiting an American Embassy was relatively easy not that long ago and and streets around our diplomatic missions were not closed off.   Tragic experience has changed all that.  We have allowed our lives to become far more complicated in exchange for greater security, not because we want to, but because we have to.  Over the years we have learned to make security precautions less intrusive and more rational.  We have also become more security conscious without being security obsessed.  In the end, we are more secure in a more dangerous world. 

The debate over how much security is enough and how much is excessive will never end in free and freedom-loving societies.  Especially when we are confronted with threats from within, rather than with outside agression, we are loath to relinguish yet another slice of physical and psychological freedom in exchange for greater protection.  We resent being shaken in the belief that our best protection are the just and democratic societies we have built.  However unsettling, the threats we face only reaffirm our most basic principles of personal liberty.  Gritting our teeth, we accept that total security is illusory and we adopt responsible management of  risks to our safety.  Depending on individual national experiences, democracies pass through these resentment and realization phases at their own pace — but inevitably arrive at similar conclusions.