Secretary Blinken: I have no illusions about how difficult it is to make transformative change in an institution of our size and complexity. But I think we can deliver for three reasons. First, the department has demonstrated the capacity to renew and reinvent itself at previous inflection points. We’re at one of those moments now. Our modernization agenda is not just a new list of management priorities by a new administration. It reflects our commitment to equip the department to lead the reorientation that is occurring in U.S. foreign policy to focus on the forces that most directly and consequentially affect Americans’ lives, livelihoods and security—from addressing COVID-19 and the climate crisis to protecting critical data and infrastructure and shaping the rules that govern transformative new technologies. And that focus will increasingly be at the heart of our alliances and partnerships—and our engagement with strategic competitors.
