Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: 'It is time to launch a broad operational accord on climate change'.

Hillary Rodham Clinton
The New York Times

Our world is on an unsustainable path that threatens not only our environment, but our economies and our security. It is time to launch a broad operational accord on climate change that will set us on a new course.

A successful agreement depends upon a number of core elements, but two are shaping up to be essential: first, that all major economies set forth strong national actions and resolve to implement them; and second, that they agree to a system that enables full transparency and creates confidence that national actions are in fact being implemented.

Transparency, in particular, is what will ensure that this agreement becomes operational, not just aspirational. We all need to take our share of responsibility, stand behind our commitments, and mean what we say in order for an international agreement to be credible.

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CNN

Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is engaged! Chelsea Clinton will marry longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky, the son of former Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky. We’ve put together a photo gallery of Chelsea through the years. Enjoy!

1992 – Dem. presidential cand. Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea at airport, seeing off her dad.

1993 – U.S. President Bill Clinton (L) and his daughter Chelsea (R) are accompanied by security personnel as they walk back to the White House after shopping at a dowtown book store.

1993 – Chelsea Clinton concentrates on a ball during soccer practice in Washington, DC.

1995 – Chelsea Clinton taking guided camel ride, framed by pyramid during sightseeing jaunt while on refueling stop in Cairo, accompanying her US First Lady mother on Asia goodwill tour.

1999 – Chelsea Clinton looks on with an unidentified friend from Stanford University at America's Millennium Opening Ceremony in Washington, DC.

2004 – Former U.S. President Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea Clinton smiles during the official opening ceremony of the Clinton Presidential Library November 18, 2004 in Little Rock, Arkansas. An estimated 30,000 spectators gathered on the grounds of the library to view the dedication of the $165 million facility.

2008 – Chelsea Clinton speaks at a rally in support of her mother, Hillary Clinton, in Clinton, North Carolina.

2009 – Chelsea Clinton attends the 3rd Annual DKMS Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.

Chelsea Clinton is engaged.

CNN

Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is engaged, a spokesman for the former president confirms to CNN.

Chelsea Clinton will marry longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky, said the spokesman, who added that reports earlier this summer about the engagement and wedding had been "completely false."

The couple sent a message to friends and famiy announcing the decision. "We're sorry for the mass email but we wanted to wish everyone a belated Happy Thanksgiving! We also wanted to share that we are engaged! We didn't get married this past summer despite the stories to the contrary, but we are looking toward next summer and hope you all will be there to celebrate with us. Happy Holidays! Chelsea & Marc"

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boards a plane in Israel on Sunday ahead of his Washington visit.

Elise Labott
CNN State Department Producer

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for an immediate resumption of peace talks with Palestinians Monday before meeting with President Barack Obama.

"My goal is to achieve a permanent peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians and soon," Netanyahu said in a speech to the Jewish Federations of North America. “I say to Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority: Let us seize the moment to reach an historic agreement, let us begin talks immediately,”

Netanyahu said he would work for a lasting peace with the Palestinians, promising "great concessions" as long as they don't compromise Israel's security.

“With the support of the United States, peace can become a reality,” Netanyahu said, hours meeting with President Obama to discuss the peace process and Iran's nuclear program.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has just returned from the Middle East, where she failed to persuade President Abbas to resume talks with Israel until it agrees to a complete freeze of settlement construction.

Clinton angered Palestinians and Arabs when she praised Israel's agreement to limit settlement-building as "unprecedented." She later clarified that the United States "does not accept the legitimacy" of building Israeli housing on occupied Palestinian land.

In his remarks Netanyahu pledged more steps to improve economic conditions in the Palestinian areas, but made no new proposals on curbing settlement construction.

Netanyahu is also expected to discuss with President Obama as well as a United Nations report that accuses Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza strip, of committing possible war crimes during an Israeli offensive earlier this year.

Calling the report "twisted," Netanyahu thanked Obama for opposing the report, which he claimed deprives Israel “of our right to defend ourselves.”

During his remarks police removed a protester who stood up and shouted: “Shame on you! Peace for Israel and Gaza!” Netanyahu joked that he received a better reception at the United Nations, where he spoke in September.

Clinton said Friday she did not come to Pakistan for happy talk.

CNN

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday she did not come to Pakistan for "happy talk."

Her three-day trip is aimed at getting frank, open discussions going about the fight against terrorism - and that includes presenting U.S. concerns, she said.

In an interview with CNN, Clinton said it's time to "clear the air" with a key U.S. ally. She added, "I don't think the way you deal with negative feelings is to pretend they're not there."

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With U.S. attention focused on Pakistan's security issues, will Hillary Clinton be able to press Islamabad's rulers to address a controversy involving rural poverty and modern-day slavery?

E. Benjamin Skinner
Time

As Hillary Clinton pays her first visit to Pakistan as Secretary of State, an unfolding hostage crisis will test the Obama Administration's rhetoric on human rights in the region. Officials at the U.S. embassy in Islamabad say at least three landlords have held as many as 170 bonded farmworkers at gunpoint on their estates in the country's southeast Sindh province since late September. With U.S. attention focused on getting Pakistan to deal with huge security issues to Washington's satisfaction, will Clinton be able to press Islamabad's rulers to address a controversy involving rural poverty and modern-day slavery?

The crisis began after the workers' advocates successfully petitioned three district courts to declare as illegal the debts that the landlords were using to compel the workers into indentured servitude. Those debts average around 1,000 Pakistani rupees — roughly $12. The hostages, a third of whom are children, some as young as 4 months old, are landless peasants, known as haari in Urdu. According to Ghulam Hyder, a spokesman for Pakistan's Green Rural Development Organization, the landlords have killed one hostage already and are threatening to kill the others unless they drop the cases and return to work. The landlords also abducted Amarchand Bheel, an advocate for the laborers, as he traveled to court to plead their cause.

A 2004 study by the International Labour Office (ILO) estimated that there are up to a million haari families in Sindh alone, the majority living in conditions of debt bondage, which the U.N. defines as modern-day slavery. Last fall, Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper quoted the labor minister of neighboring Punjab province as saying that landlords hold millions of forced laborers in "private prisons" across the country.

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Jill Dougherty
CNN

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived Wednesday in nuclear-armed Pakistan, a country hit hard by terrorism, economic crisis and rising sentiment that it is paying too high a price for its partnership with the United States in fighting extremists.

Clinton is expected to meet with top Pakistani officials, including president Asif Ali Zardari, but a major challenge during this visit is to convince Pakistanis that the U.S. wants a partnership that goes beyond fighting al Qaeda and other extremist groups.

Talking with reporters en route to Pakistan, Clinton said she wants to "turn the page" on what has been, in the past few years, "primarily a security-anti-terrorist agenda."

"We hold that to be extremely important, and it remains a very high priority," she said. "But we also recognize that it is imperative that we broaden our engagement with Pakistan."

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Workers of the Afghan Election Commission check ballots in Kabul earlier this month.

Elise Labott
CNN State Department producer

-While Senator John Kerry is getting most of the praise from the White House for convincing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accept an election runoff, senior State Department officials say Secretary Clinton also spent hours on the phone with Karzai, Kerry, US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry and others both in Washington and in the region to bring about the result.

-Officials say when they realized Kerry was going to the region, Clinton and Special Representative Richard Holbrooke discussed how he could be a useful actor. Holbrooke briefed Kerry for two hours.

-Before Senator Kerry arrived in Afghanistan Secretary Clinton called Karzai and his chief rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. Secretary Clinton and President Karzai had what is described as a "very honest, wide ranging 40 minute conversation" where she laid out why it was important for him to accept the runoff. She made it clear the road ahead with the international community, particularly the U.S. would be more difficult if he didn't accept it.

-In this discussion, Karzai laid out hs concerns. Clinton also drew on her own political experience in the conversations, something she regularly does in her discussions with leaders.

-She told Karzai to listen to Kerry, adding that he speaks as much for the administration as anyone. She pointed to the fact Kerry himself went through a tough presidential election and the he understands Karzai's predicament.

-On Monday things looked like they were moving in the right direction but Kerry had to leave for several votes.  Senator Harry Reid needed him on the Senate Floor.  But Secretary Clinton asked Kerry to stay an extra day to push Karzai to make the announcement. The secretary called Reid herself to say she needed Kerry to stay.

-Officials say there were about a half dozen calls between Clinton and Kerry, sometimes with Holbrooke, Eikenberry or both joining the calll.

-On Monday Secretary Clinton again called Karzai and Abdullah to push the agreement through. She spelled out the likely outcomes of the runoff and the positive impact on the U.S.-Afghan relationship.

-State Department officials are going to great lengths to say Senator Kerry deserves plenty of praise. They say he was not "freelancing” and that this was a coordinated effort.

-One senior official said of Clinton's efforts "she is at the center of the complex web of relationships, negotiations, conversations, incentives, pressure, and strategy."

-This comes on the heels of Clinton's recent visit to Zurich, where she spent hours negotiating between Turkey and Armenia to sign an agreement normalizing relations.

-For all the talk about how Clinton has been "marginalized" in the Obama administration, it sure looks like she's found her diplomatic sea legs.

Nancy Gibbs
Time Magazine

If you were a woman reading this magazine 40 years ago, the odds were good that your husband provided the money to buy it. That you voted the same way he did. That if you got breast cancer, he might be asked to sign the form authorizing a mastectomy. That your son was heading to college but not your daughter. That your boss, if you had a job, could explain that he was paying you less because, after all, you were probably working just for pocket money.

It's funny how things change slowly, until the day we realize they've changed completely. It's expected that by the end of the year, for the first time in history the majority of workers in the U.S. will be women — largely because the downturn has hit men so hard. This is an extraordinary change in a single generation, and it is gathering speed: the growth prospects, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are in typically female jobs like nursing, retail and customer service. More and more women are the primary breadwinner in their household (almost 40%) or are providing essential income for the family's bottom line. Their buying power has never been greater — and their choices have seldom been harder.

It is in this context that the Rockefeller Foundation, in collaboration with TIME, conducted a landmark survey of gender issues to assess how individual Americans are reacting. Is the battle of the sexes really over, and if so, did anyone win? How do men now view female power? How much resentment or confusion or gratitude is there for the forces that have rearranged family life, rewired the economy and reinvented gender roles? And what, if anything, does everyone agree needs to happen to make all this work? The study found that men and women were in broad agreement about what matters most to them; gone is the notion that women's rise comes at men's expense. As the Old Economy dissolves and pressures on working parents grow, they share their fears about what this means for their children and their frustration with institutions that refuse to admit how much has changed. In the new age, the battles we fight together are the ones that define us.

A Quiet Revolution

In the spring of 1972, TIME devoted a special issue of the magazine to assessing the status of women in the throes of "women's lib." At a time when American society was racing through change like a reckless teenager, feminism had sputtered and stalled. Women's average wages had actually fallen relative to men's; there were fewer women in the top ranks of civil service (under 2%) than there were four years before. No woman had served in the Cabinet since the Eisenhower Administration; there were no female FBI agents or network-news anchors or Supreme Court Justices. The nation's campuses were busy hosting a social revolt, yet Harvard's tenured faculty of 421 included only six women. Of the Museum of Modern Art's 1,000 one-man shows over the previous 40 years, five were by women. Headhunters lamented that it was easier to put a man on the moon than a woman in a corner office. "There is no movement," complained an activist who resigned her leadership position in the National Organization for Women two years after it was founded. "Movement means 'going someplace,' and the movement is not going anywhere. It hasn't accomplished anything."

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President Bush, left, ducks a shoe as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki tries to protect him.

Elise Labott
CNN State Department Producer

"Certainly from our standpoint this gives us a sense of momentum when the United States has accolades tossed its way rather than shoes."

That's the take of Hillary Clinton's State Department on President Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, according to her spokesman, Assistant Secretary PJ Crowley.

Crowley was referring to an incident last December, when an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during his final visit to Iraq during his administration.

Muntader Zaidi, who worked for the Iraqi television station Al Baghdadiya, hurled both his shoes at Bush and called him a "dog," during a press conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, narrowly missing the president as he ducked.

The show-throwing, considered one of the highest insults in the Middle East, illustrated the deep anger toward the United States over its invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Crowley's comments suggested recognition by the Obama administration that the Nobel Prize was as much an indictment on the Bush administration as it was an effort to praise President Obama's outreach to improve the US image around the world.

Echoing comments by the White House, Crowley said the award was not just an "affirmation" of the Obama administration's foreign policy strategy of engagement, but also on its robust foreign policy agenda, which includes non-proliferation, dealing with Iran and North Korea and Middle East peace.

"There is an opportunity here," Crowley said. "The tone has changed but obviously we recognize that while the tone in the world has changed, the challenges remain they are very significant.

This "call to action," Crowley said, will fall primarily on the shoulders Secretary Clinton and the State Department "to advance the president's agenda and confront the challenges of the 21st century."

Elise Labott

CNN State Department Producer

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi made the rounds in Washington just as President Obama's national security team shifted its attention to Pakistan.

This week Secretary of Defense Williams Gates called the Afghan border with Pakistan the "epicenter of jihad." And the renewed focus on Pakistan suggests that Obama has a new role for Pakistan in the battle against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

After all, in developing a strategy for "Afpak," Obama acknowledged the United States cannot win in Afghanistan without cooperation from Pakistan, the suspected hideout of Obama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders.

Which is why the buzzword of both Qureshi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week was "partnership," as in the United States and Pakistan are united in a "strategic partnership" against a common enemy.

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CNN obtained this photo of a U.S. helicopter above Forward Operating Base Keating in the Nuristan province

Ed Hornick
CNN

Mountainous terrain and harsh weather in remote parts of Afghanistan have proven a deadly combination for the U.S. military in its push to reduce mounting violence in the country.

On Saturday, Taliban militants attacked American and Afghan troops in the Nuristan province in eastern Afghanistan. Eight American troops and two members of the Afghan national security forces were killed, according to the Pentagon.

It was the largest number of Americans killed by hostile action in a single day since July 13, 2008, when nine troops died, according to CNN records.

The fighting was so fierce that at one point U.S. forces "had to collapse in on themselves," a U.S. military official with knowledge of the latest intelligence reports on the incident told CNN. These revelations about the battle that engulfed Forward Operating Base Keating are a further indication of how pinned down and outmanned the troops were. Watch more on the attack in rural Afghanistan »

The base was scheduled to be closed in the next few days, CNN has learned. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, wanted to cede remote outposts and consolidate troops in more populated areas to better protect Afghan civilians.

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CNN

The flag-draped coffins of at least four U.S. soldiers killed during a weekend onslaught against a U.S. military outpost in Afghanistan were scheduled to arrive Tuesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the military said.

The bodies will include Sgt. Joshua J. Kirk of South Portland, Maine; Spc. Michael P. Scusa of Villas, New Jersey; Spc. Christopher T. Griffin of Kincheloe, Michigan; and Pfc. Kevin C. Thomson of Reno, Nevada, according to the Air Force mortuary affairs office. The dignified transfer ceremony also might include other fallen service members.

Coverage of the troops' return is allowed with the permission of their families under a policy the Obama administration instituted this year.

Click here to keep reading and find out where some of the key players in the debate stand...

Elise Labott
CNN State Department Producer

America’s preeminent political power couple made a rare joint appearance Friday, when Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton took the stage at the former President’s Clinton Global Initiative.

“I want to begin by expressing my extreme indebtedness to the Clinton global initiative, to all of you who participated, for giving me the first chance I have had in a week to see Hillary,” the former president told the audience of social activists and business leaders at the closing session of CGI, a week long conference designed to find solutions to global problems through public and private partnerships.

Secretary of State Hilly Clinton was at the session to unveil a new State Department initiative on food security.

As he introduced her President Clinton was effusive in his praise for his wife, saying that Hillary’s approach to food security, helping farmers around the world grow their own food to earn income and alleviate poverty, was much smarter than the decades-long policy of simply giving humanitarian aid and food to countries.

“It was a wrong headed policy. It persisted through Democratic and Republican policies alike, including mine. We were all wrong and she is determined to reverse it,” Clinton said, adding that while he was busy engaging in politics, Hillary had “become her own NGO.”

“Most of what I know about what I do today, I learned from her and she has become the best public servant our family has produced, he said. “I am very proud of her and honored that she came here."

Secretary Clinton, who received a standing ovation, had equally kind words for her husband.

“It won't surprise you to hear that I am very proud of my husband and I think what he has invented and brought to life here is extraordinary,” she said, adding the new State Department food initiative in part was an idea she developed by seeing the kinds of partnerships the Clinton Global Initiative produced.

The Clinton’s book-ended a photo op with State Department officials and executives from General Mills and other organizations, who pledged at the conference to start a program to help farmers around the world.

And then, for Bill and Hillary fans, a rare treat. As she walked off the stage, Hillary’s proud husband drew some more cheers when he gave his wife a kiss.

Bill continued to read million dollar commitments he received at the conference for additional social programs. And Hillary left to meet with 15 ministers from the Caribbean.

What is really scary...is to do nothing, President Obama says Tuesday.

Suvro Banerji
AC360° Intern

President Obama was in Portsmouth, New Hampshire earlier today fighting back at his health care critics for employing "scare tactics" and "wild misrepresentations.” He addressed a supportive and relatively calm town hall meeting as opposed to the ones held by other members of his party. Tonight, we will show you parts of his speech in his own words.

Meanwhile, Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter faced the tough questions in Pennsylvania. Some accused him of violating their constitutional rights by allowing the government to takeover the health care system and thus, adding to the federal deficit. Gary Tuchman is live tonight from Lewisburg, Pennsylvania to give us the latest. We will also take the politics out the equation and show how much of the stuff that’s being discussed in these town hall meetings is actually true. 360° MD Sanjay Gupta will keep them honest.

How should we tackle health care waste? A new study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers identifies several areas of massive health care waste. We’re talking about trillions of dollars. Tom Foreman will break it down for us.

Also tonight, we have a new development in the Michael Jackson death investigation as police raided a Las Vegas pharmacy. A source tells us the pharmacy sold the strong anesthetic ‘propofol’ to the pop legend’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. Chief correspondent for Inside Edition, Jim Moret and CNN legal analyst Lisa Bloom will join us from Los Angeles for more insight.

Plus, an American soldier is under arrest for allegedly serving a Mexican drug cartel and even murdering a cartel member. Ed Lavendera will show us how young Americans are being recruited by these cartels in tonight’s crime and punishment report.

And, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton toured a refugee camp today in the Democratic Republic of Congo- an African country where thousands of women are raped by soldiers and the violence is getting worse. Anderson traveled to Congo in 2006 to report on this brutality. Tonight, we will air his 360° dispatch.

All these stories and much more tonight on 360° at 10pm ET. See you then!

After Congo, the secretary of state will travel to Nigeria, Liberia and Cape Verde.

CNN

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brought an offer of help Tuesday for victims, especially victims of sexual violence, of Africa's longest war, a regional conflict that's dragged on for more than a decade.

Clinton on Monday delivered a blunt message to Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito of the Democratic Republic of Congo when he hosted a dinner in her honor.

"There must be an end to widespread financial corruption and abuses of human rights and women's rights," she said. "There must be an improvement in governance and the respect for the rule of law."

She also called for "changes in the business climate, changes in the rules and regulations that involve contracts and the protection of property" to promote foreign investment.

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Iran is afraid of the truth and the facts coming out, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

CNN Politics

Iran's trial of more than 100 people who it has linked to post-election unrest is a "sign of weakness" and shows that the Islamic republic "is afraid of its own people," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN Thursday.

"It is a show trial, there's no doubt about it," Clinton told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in a wide-ranging interview to be broadcast on his "GPS" program Sunday.

"It demonstrates I think better than any of us could ever say that this Iranian leadership is afraid of their own people, and afraid of the truth and the facts coming out."

Clinton spoke to Zakaria during her visit to Africa.

Those on trial include Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari, who has dual citizenship in Iran and Canada, and Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American scholar. The trial, which began over the weekend, is scheduled to resume Saturday, according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.

This week, the State Department issued a statement expressing deep concern for Tajbakhsh.

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Top diplomat Hillary Clinton speaks at the African Growth and Opportunity conference in Nairobi Thursday.

Charles Kenny
The Root

Not in the slightest. It's true that some countries in the region are as poor as England under William the Conqueror, but that doesn't mean Africa's on the verge of doomsday. How many serfs had a cellphone? More than 63 million Nigerians do.

Millions travel on buses and trucks across the continent each year, even if the average African road is still fairly bumpy. The list of modern technologies now ubiquitous in the region also includes cement, corrugated iron, steel wire, piping, plastic sheeting and containers, synthetic and cheap cotton clothing, rubber-soled shoes, bicycles, butane, paraffin candles, pens, paper, books, radios, televisions, vaccines, antibiotics, and bed nets.

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Sec. Clinton will begin a week-long visit to nations throughout Africa tomorrow.

Jill Dougherty
CNN Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is embarking on her biggest international trip yet: Africa. Seven countries in eleven days. Issues as diverse as economic entrepreneurship and gender-based violence.

The trip comes just three weeks after President Obama’s trip to Accra, Ghana and Secretary Clinton will highlight many of the themes he struck. The State Department notes it’s the earliest trip by a Secretary of State and a President to Africa of any previous administration. In an administration that prides itself on a plethora of “priorities,” officials say they are putting Africa toward the top of the list.

The Secretary begins her trip in Nairobi, Kenya at the U.S.-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum, delivering a speech at the forum’s ministerial opening ceremony.

In Kenya she plans to meet with President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, encouraging them to proceed with their intention to rewrite the country’s constitution. The country was hit with a wave of violence two and a half years ago following flawed presidential elections.

Also in Kenya she will meet briefly with Somalia’s president Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.

His country is under intense pressure from an Islamist extremist movements affiliated with Al Qaeda of al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam.

On her next stop, South Africa, she will meet with the country’s new leader, President Jacob Zuma, and the Foreign Minister. Top of the agenda for the country, under severe economic pressure, are the crisis in neighboring Zimbabwe and HIV/AIDS.

The State Department describes her next destination, Angola, as a country with “enormous economic potential.” Angola is one of the largest energy producers in Sub-Saharan Africa and is a major supplier of both petroleum and LNG to the U.S. market.

There are some trouble spots on the Secretary’s trip and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of them. For more than 15 years, eastern Congo was torn by civil strife and massive use of rape. Secretary Clinton will meet with some of the victims of that violence to underscore the United States’ commitment ending gender-based violence.

In Nigeria Secretary Clinton will see what the State Department calls “probably the most important country in Sub-Saharan Africa.” With 140 million people, it is a major source of petroleum imports for the United States.

The Secretary will discuss with the Nigerian Government security in West Africa, democratic development, fighting corruption and promoting economic development.

In Liberia, founded by slaves from the United States, Secretary Clinton will reaffirm U.S. support for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the only female African president. Besieged by violent conflict for 20 years, Liberia, still fragile, now is strengthening its democracy and Clinton will highlight development assistance.

Last stop:  Cape Verde, which the State department calls “an African success story,” Secretary Clinton will see a country democratically run and well managed.

In its briefings for reporters on Clinton’s African trip, the State Department has not specifically stressed human rights although, as with other parts of the world, it links development and human rights.

Amnesty International Executive Director Larry Cox, in a letter to Secretary of State Clinton, is urging her to discuss human rights concerns with the African leaders she will meet this week.  "Failure to discuss human rights abuses in a meaningful way,” he says, “would send the wrong signal about the seriousness with which the United States views the human rights situation in those countries.”

China has launched a broad economic outreach to Africa,. Asked whether Clinton’s trip is a way of sending a message to Beijing, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson says “Our presence there has nothing to do with anyone else’s operations on the continent.  The mention of our colleagues from Asia is a Cold War paradigm, not a reflection of where we are today.”

Evaluating the prospects for Secretary Clinton’s African trip, the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ (CSIS)  J. Stephen Morrison says Clinton “may be signaling through the scope and timing of her trip that Africa has graduated into a mainstream U.S. foreign policy priority and that she intends to guide U.S. policy.  That would be a significant shift,” Morrison says, and a very welcome change – if sustained.”