Rice starts job with 9-nation tour of Europe and the Middle East

WASHINGTON -- Condoleezza Rice embarks Thursday on her first trip as secretary of state in a series of visits the administration hopes will mark a fresh start with European allies and inject new energy into the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

During an eight-day sprint through nine countries and the West Bank Feb. 3-10, the top U.S. diplomat will visit traditional allies and newer partners in Europe as well as the Middle East. The journey begins the day after President Bush lays out his foreign policy plans for a second term in his State of the Union address tonight.

Rice began her confirmation hearing two weeks ago by announcing that "the time for diplomacy is now."

"The fact that Rice is beginning with a long trip which focuses primarily on Europe and, unusual for a first trip, a stop in the Middle East, signals an intent by Rice to do business differently," says Lee Feinstein, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Her predecessor, Colin Powell, went to the Middle East in his second trip as secretary of state, about a month after he was confirmed. Madeleine Albright, secretary of state under President Clinton, traveled to Israel and the West Bank almost nine months after she was confirmed.

Rice's get-acquainted tour comes at a time when relations with some of America's oldest and most reliable allies -- angered by the U.S. invasion of Iraq -- are "scraping the bottom," says Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.

John Hulsman, a European policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, says the trip "is as close to stretching out a hand as the Europeans can hope to get" from the Bush administration.

Rice goes abroad at an auspicious time. Sunday's historic election in Iraq gives the administration a success to tout in trying to persuade skeptical European leaders to increase their support for Iraq.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death Nov. 11 and last month's election of Mahmoud Abbas as the new president of the Palestinian Authority, along with Israel's plan to pull settlers out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank, present an opportunity to break through the stalemate that stalled peace efforts during Bush's first term.

The State Department has offered few details about what Rice will do at each stop. But the main motif, says Hulsman, will be "reassurance and symbolism."

Rice's itinerary includes:

-- London. The secretary's first visit is to the United States' staunchest partner in Iraq. British Prime Minister Tony Blair views the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as his top foreign-policy concern. Rice will tell him that the United States is "fulfilling our promise to make it a high priority" in Bush's second term, Hulsman says.

-- Berlin. Relations have been chilly with Germany since Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder led the opposition to the Iraq war in late 2002.

"Re-engaging with Germany is vital if we're going to move formerly skeptical parts of Europe to a pro-American position," Hulsman says.

-- Warsaw. Rice's plane touches down for a few hours to thank this "Nnew Europe" ally for its support in Iraq despite strong opposition by most Poles.

-- Ankara. Officials in the Turkish capital have long been wary of the nationalist ambitions of Kurds in southeastern Turkey and across the border in northern Iraq. Rice will emphasize the U.S. commitment to a unified Iraq. She could also remind them of U.S. support for Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

-- Jerusalem and the West Bank. Rice will speak separately to Palestinian leader Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Feb. 7, one day before the two leaders are scheduled for their first face- to-face meeting. Going to the region so early, Stanford University political scientist Michael McFaul says, is Rice's "signal to say, 'Tthis is where we're focused now.' "

-- Paris. Rice will give her first major speech as secretary of state in the country whose animosity to Bush and the Iraq war prompted angry Americans to turn French fries into "freedom fries."

Copyright C 2005 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.