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central to its foreign policy to remain a global leader, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.
“We have to position ourselves to lead in a world where security is shaped in boardrooms and on trading floors – as well as on battlefields,” Clinton said in prepared remarks to the Economic Club of New York.

She said the United States must end the “culture of political brinksmanship” that many say has paralysed Washington, and get its own economic house in order while facing new challenges as the global economy changes.
“I know there are some who believe that America, after taking a few lumps in recent years, should turn inward.

“But you can’t call ‘time out’ in the global economy. Our competitors aren’t taking a time out, and neither can we,” she said.
Clinton said the United States must learn to use its foreign policy to strengthen its domestic economy as it fights unfair trade barriers and a new breed of foreign state-owned or state-supported enterprises which act at the behest of foreign governments.

“Emerging powers like India and Brazil put economics at the center of their foreign policies . . . one of the first questions they ask is, ‘how will this affect our economic growth?'” Clinton said. Brazil, Russia, India and China comprise the BRIC group of emerging economies.
“We need to be asking the same question – not because the answer will dictate our foreign policy choices, but because it must be a significant part of the equation.”

She said the United States must also come up with strategies to compete with foreign state-backed companies that often operate in secrecy, without the transparency and accountability that comes with shareholders and boards of directors.
“Today we see hybrid companies masquerading as commercial actors, but actually controlled by states and acting with strategic consequences,” Clinton said.
“The way states deploy their cash, companies and natural resources, especially in global markets, is of critical concern to us.”

Clinton has increasingly stressed economic diplomacy, highlighting issues such as energy security, job creation and a “level playing field” on trade to counter what Washington believes are unfair advantages that have helped China and some other emerging economies grow so fast.

Clinton’s message was clearly aimed in part at the challenge posed by Beijing.
“One of America’s great successes of the past century was to build a strong network of relationships and institutions across the Atlantic. One of our great projects in this century will be to do the same across the Pacific,” she said. – Reuters.