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Susan Rice: U.S. National Security Needs To Be Less 'White, Male And Yale'

Florida International University
White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice delivering the commencement address at FIU's School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) Wednesday.

President Obama’s National Security Advisor – Ambassador Susan Rice – came to Miami Wednesday.

And she was recruiting.

Rice delivered the commencement address for Florida International University’s School of International and Public Affairs, or SIPA. Her message: Our national security leadership needs more diversity - to be less "white, male and Yale," as she quoted former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham. Minorities make up less than 20 percent of America’s diplomats – and less than 15 percent of its senior military and intelligence officers. So Rice implored FIU’s culturally diverse SIPA grads to consider careers in that arena.

Rice - who at FIU said diversity isn't just "a human resources issue" but "a national security imperative" - spoke with WLRN by phone from her car shortly after her speech. (Press "Listen" above to hear the interview.)

Excerpts:

"If we're not taking advantage of the diverse perspectives, insights, language skills, cultural understandings of the population that we represent, then we're making decisions and leading with one hand tied behind our back."

"The decisions we make in national security policy are enhanced when we're able to draw on different insights, different backgrounds, different perspectives, and have those bounce off of one another, rather than operate in a mindset where people who are alike think alike."

"I have seen in many instances, when we're sitting around a policy-making table and we have people who have deep knowledge and insight and experience of a region on which we are working, we are making better and more thoughtful and I believe more effective decisions."

"We do have programs at all of our agencies designed to support the recruitment and hiring of diverse populations. We have the Pickering Fellows program at the State Department, and the Rangel Fellows, designed particularly to encourage non-traditional recruits to come in and join our foreign service and national security apparatus."

"It's U.S. interest and a profound understanding of our stake in Latin America and the Caribbean to want to deepen and strengthen our ties there. The opening to Cuba obviously has gone a great distance not only toward changing our relationship Cuba but changing the way the United States is received - and perceived - in the hemisphere."

Tim Padgett is the Americas Editor for WLRN, covering Latin America, the Caribbean and their key relationship with South Florida. Contact Tim at tpadgett@wlrnnews.org
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