July 6 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2009

And President Medvedev is right that this is important in solving a whole host of these very important for Afghanistan, but it’s also impor- important international issues. tant with respect to Pakistan. And we’re going All right, thank you very much, everybody. to have to think regionally in terms of how we approach these problems. Obviously, there are NOTE: The President’s news conference began countries along the border of Afghanistan and at 7:21 p.m. at the Kremlin. In his remarks, Central Asia that are of deep strategic impor- the President referred to Adm. Michael G. Mullen, USN, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; tance, and it’s very important that we also in- Gen. Nikolai Y. Makarov, Chief, Armed Forc- clude them in these conversations about how es General Staff, and Minister of Foreign Af- we can move forward. fairs Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia; Secretary of But I just want to thank again the Russian State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and President Government for the agreement for military Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. President Med- transit. That will save U.S. troops both time vedev referred to President Asif Ali Zardari of and money. And it’s I think a gesture that indi- Pakistan. President Medvedev and some re- cates the degree to which, in the future, Rus- porters spoke in Russian, and their remarks sian-U.S. cooperation can be extraordinarily were translated by an interpreter.

Interview With AllAfrica.com July 2, 2009

The President’s Visit to Ghana U.S. Foreign Policy in

Q. We asked visitors to our site, AllAfri- Q. And I assume that you’d like to see a lot ca.com, what they might be interested in with more Ghanas in Africa. And part of your policy respect to your policy. And as you might imag- would be, I assume, to encourage that. ine, the responses are everywhere: conflict The President. Absolutely. resolution, development issues, trade issues, et Q. But how? Do you get—— cetera. But they and we have one immediate The President. Well, part of it is lifting up question. successful models. And so by traveling to Gha- The President. Right. na, we hope to highlight the effective gover- Q. How is it that you happened to pick Gha- nance that they have in place. na as the first place to visit in sub-Saharan Af- I don’t think that we can expect that every rica? country is going to undergo these transitions in The President. Well, part of the reason is the same way at the same time. But we have because that Ghana has now undergone a cou- seen progress in democracy and transparency ple of successful elections in which power was and rule of law, in the protection of property transferred peacefully, even a very close elec- rights, in anticorruption efforts. We have seen tion. I think that the new President, President progress over the last several years. In some Mills, has shown himself committed to the cases, though, we’re also seeing some backslid- rule of law, to the kinds of democratic commit- ing. In my father’s own country of Kenya, I’m ments that ensure stability in a country. And I concerned about how the political parties do think that there is a direct correlation between not seem to be moving into a permanent rec- governance and prosperity. Countries that are onciliation that would allow the country to governed well, that are stable, where the lead- move forward. And Kenya is not alone in some ership recognizes that they are accountable to of the problems that we’ve seen of late, post- the people and that institutions are stronger election or preelection. than any one person, have a track record of And we just want to make sure that people producing results for the people. And we want are mindful that this isn’t just some abstract to highlight that. notion that we’re trying to impose on Africa.

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There is a very practical, pragmatic conse- for a while to check that box, but rather it’s an quence to political instability and corruption ongoing part of a broader discussion about how when it comes to whether people can feed their we move many of these international challenges families, educate their children, and we think forward. that Africa—the African Continent is a place of extraordinary promise as well as challenges. Use of Technology in African Aid We’re not going to be able to fulfill those prom- ises unless we see better governance. Q. Development assistance will presumably be an important piece of your Africa policy. U.S. Role in Africa Now, development assistance is pretty frag- mented, whether you look at the United States Q. Do you have, with respect to that, priori- or you look at it globally, in the sense of varying ties in terms of countries or regions? For in- countries have varying approaches. And now stance, West Africa is extremely important in you, more than any President, are associated terms of oil, or East Africa in terms of some of with using technological tools, and I can’t help the strategic concerns of the United States? but wonder if you have in mind or have thought The President. I think the entire continent is about using technology to bring some coher- important. And keep in mind that although I’m ence, if you will, like tracking how aid works or visiting Ghana on this particular trip, we’ve al- goes and where it goes, et cetera. ready had Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe in the Oval The President. Look, I think you make a very Office. We’ve had Kikwete from Tanzania in important point, and that is that even just with- my office. And in each case, I’m trying to send in the U.S. Government, our aid policies have the same message. You’ve seen some very good been splintered among a variety of agencies, work by the administration in Tanzania, focus- different theories embraced by different people ing on how to deliver concrete services to the depending on which administration, which par- people, and wherever folks want to help them- ty is in power at any given time. Trying to create selves, we want to be there as a partner. And I something steady and focused on and always think that you’ve got some very strong leader- basing our policies on what works and not on ship in Africa that is ready to move forward, and some ideological previous position is going to we want to be there with them. be very important. On the economic front, that means opening And technology can play a very important up better trade opportunities. It means that we role in streamlining our aid to countries, making are interested not just in foreign aid, but in how sure that we’re tracking how that aid is being we strengthen the capacity for development in- applied, making sure that it’s reaching the peo- ternally in these countries, and we want to work ple it’s intended to reach. One of the concerns in a multilateral context, as well as the bilateral that I have with our aid policy generally is that strengthening of relations with many of these Western consultants and administrative costs countries. end up gobbling huge percentages of our aid But as you point out, there are both strategic, overall. And it seems to me that what we should national security, economic, environmental rea- be doing is trying to minimize our footprint and sons why we think this region is important. And maximize the degree to which we’re training part of the reason we wanted to—although people to do for themselves. So I think using we’re only going to one country this time, I ac- the Internet, using software, using modern tually thought that it made sense for us to con- technology to improve delivery systems is im- nect a trip to Ghana to a previous trip with the portant. G–8, and we’ll be meeting a number of African Now, I also think on the ground in many of countries in Italy during the G–8 meeting—be- these countries, how we think about not high- fore that, a meeting in Russia—to show that Af- tech stuff but low-tech technologies to, for ex- rica is directly connected to our entire foreign ample, improve food production is vitally im- policy approach, that it’s not some isolated portant. And I’m still frustrated over the fact thing where once every term you go visit Africa that the green revolution that we introduced

1055 July 7 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 into India in the sixties, we haven’t yet intro- U.S. Foreign Policy in Africa duced into Africa in 2009. In some countries, you’ve got declining agricultural productivity. Q. Is that a failure of U.S. policy, or is that a That makes absolutely no sense. And we don’t failure of governance in Africa? need fancy computers to solve those problems. The President. I would say that the interna- We need tried and true agricultural methods tional community has not always been as stra- and technologies that are cheap and are effi- tegic as it should have been, but ultimately, cient, but could have a huge impact in terms of I’m a big believer that Africans are responsible people’s day-to-day well being. for Africa. I think part of what’s hampered advance- African Development ment in Africa is that for many years, we made excuses about corruption or poor governance, Q. In addition, you mentioned just a few that this was somehow the consequence of minutes ago also the importance of investment neocolonialism, or the West has been oppres- and not just aid. What’s the balance between sive, or racism—I’m not a big—I’m not a be- assistance and investment? You get—most liever in excuses. businesses get a bigger return on their invest- I’d say I’m probably as knowledgeable ment in Africa than any other part of the about African history as anybody who’s occu- world. So should that receive more emphasis pied my office. And I can give you chapter and than it’s been getting? What kind of balance in verse on the—why the colonial maps that were your mind exists between development assis- drawn helped to spur on conflict, and the tance and—— terms of trade that were uneven emerging out The President. Well, a couple of points I of colonialism. would make. Number one, you’re not going to And yet the fact is we’re in 2009, and the get investment without good governance. So West and the United States has not been re- that’s part of the reason why we emphasize it. sponsible for what’s happened to Zimbabwe’s Again, this is a very practical, hard-headed ap- economy over the last 15 or 20 years. It hasn’t proach to how we’re going to see improve- been responsible for some of the disastrous ments in the daily lives of the peoples of Afri- policies that we’ve seen elsewhere in Africa. ca. If government officials are asking for 10, And I think that it’s very important for African 15, 25 percent off the top, businesses don’t leadership to take responsibility and be held want to invest there. That’s point number one. accountable. Point number two: I think that when my fa- And I think the people of Africa understand ther left Kenya and traveled to the United that. The problem is, is that they just haven’t States back in the early sixties, the GDP of Ke- always had the opportunities to organize and nya and South Korea weren’t equivalent; Ke- voice their opinions in ways that create better nya’s was actually higher. What’s happened results. over that 50-year period? What you’ve seen is Korea combine foreign investment, integra- The President’s Legacy/U.S. Role in Africa tion with the global economy, with a strategic sense of certain industries that they can pro- Q. In the last minute or so of our conversa- mote for export; great emphasis on education tion, even though you are really barely into for a skilled workforce; insisting that foreign your Presidency, I already feel compelled to investment is accompanied by technology ask you a legacy question. [Laughter] And that transfer so that homegrown industries can be is: What, when you finish your Presidency, do built and nurtured. you expect your stamp on Africa policy to be? So we’ve got models out there. We know What do you think that will be? what it might take. What we haven’t seen is, is The President. What I would like, at the end a consistent, steady application of some of of my term in office, to be able to say that the these models over time in Africa, and I think United States was an effective partner with that now is the time to start. countries throughout Africa in building the

1056 Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 / July 7 kinds of institutions, both political, civil, eco- the United States is a critical partner in that nomic, that allow for improving standards of liv- process. ings and greater security for the people of Afri- All right? ca, that we’ve moved them on a trajectory in Q. I need another hour or so. [Laughter] But which they are integrating with the global econ- I thank you for your time. omy, and that a young person growing up in Jo- The President. Thank you so much. hannesburg or or or Djibouti can say to themselves, “I can stay here in Africa; I NOTE: The interview began at 3:03 p.m. in the can stay in my country and succeed, and Blue Room at the White House. In his remarks, through my success, my country and my people the President referred to Prime Minister Mor- will get stronger.” gan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe; and President That would be a good legacy. I don’t expect Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania. The tran- that we’re going to get there in 4 years or 8 script was released by the Office of the Press years, but I think we can get on that path. And Secretary on July 7. A portion of these remarks could not be verified because the tape was in- complete.

Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in July 7, 2009

Prime Minister Putin. Mr. President, I’m Prime Minister—as President but in your cur- very glad to meet you here, and I’m glad to have rent role as Prime Minister. this opportunity to be an acquaintance of yours. We think there’s an excellent opportunity to The history of relations between Russia and the put U.S.-Russian relations on a much stronger United States has very many different occasions footing. And we may not end up agreeing on ev- and events of different, shall we say, color. erything, but I think that we can have a tone of There were periods when our relations flour- mutual respect and consultation that will serve ished quite a bit, and there were also periods of, both the American people and the Russian peo- shall we say, grayish mood between our two ple well. countries and of stagnation. With you, we link So thank you very much. I look forward to a all our hopes for the furtherance of relations be- very useful exchange of ideas. I also want to tween our two countries. We are very glad to thank the Prime Minister for arranging very see you here and welcome you here in Russia. nice weather in Moscow. President Obama. Thank you. Well, I very much appreciate you taking time to meet with NOTE: The President spoke at 9:10 a.m. at the me. We had excellent discussions with the Pres- Novo Ogaryovo estate. In his remarks, he re- ident yesterday. And I’m aware of not only the ferred to President Dmitry A. Medvedev of extraordinary work that you’ve done on behalf Russia. Prime Minister Putin spoke in Russian, of the Russian people in your previous role as and his remarks were translated by an interpret- er. Audio was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.

Remarks at a Graduation Ceremony at the New Economic School in Moscow, Russia July 7, 2009

Thank you so much. Well, congratulations, gratulations to you. I don’t know if anybody else Oksana. And to the entire class of 2009, con- will meet their future wife or husband in class

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