A lot is happening over at State. All the unfolding dialogue is giving us an idea of Obama’s foreign policy, as seen through his Secretary of State. They have to tell us where we’re going before you can weigh in on the flight path.

Today, Clinton and Mitchell met and also took questions. Regarding Hamas, Secretary Clinton:

QUESTION: — (inaudible) it’s clear that from the President’s first interview and from the first stop in Cairo that the Administration is making a concerted effort to send a signal of the priorities and the balance, and perhaps a rebalancing. Is that enough going in? Or, eventually, does there have to be a path, a diplomatic path to Hamas, in order to resolve Gaza? And if I could ask both of you, Madame Secretary.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Andrea, you know, we have a very clear policy toward Hamas, and Hamas knows the conditions that have been set forth. They must renounce violence. They must recognize Israel. And they must agree to abide by prior agreements that were entered into by the Palestinian Authority.

We are just at the beginning of this deep and consistent engagement that we are part of, that Senator Mitchell is leading for our Administration, but our conditions with respect to Hamas have not and will not change. It is our hope that the work that needs to be done to move the parties toward an effort to settle many of the disputes that they currently confront will be effective. But Hamas knows that it must stop the rocket fire into Israel. There were rockets yesterday, there were rockets this morning. And it is very difficult to ask any nation to do anything other than defend itself in the wake of that kind of consistent attack. So that’s not new news. You know what our position is. It is something that the President has set forth. [...]

On the abduction of the American in Quetta, Pakistan:

MR. WOOD (temporary spokesperson for State): Yeah, the only thing I can tell you is that an American citizen employed by the United Nations was kidnapped in Quetta, Pakistan, on Monday. And officials here in Washington are doing what we can to support the family and providing whatever services we can. But at this point, because of, you know, Privacy Act concerns, I can’t say very much more, I think you can understand, at this point.

QUESTION: Well, not really, since the UN has made his name public.

MR. WOOD: Well, from our standpoint, I can’t say any more at this point.

On Iran, Robert Wood, acting State spokesperson, made clear that “missile-related activities” were noted: “… UN Security Council Resolution 1718[1] prohibits Iran from engaging in missile-related activities. …”. Segue to State on the Iranian satellite launch:

Iran’s ongoing efforts to develop its missile delivery capabilities remain a matter of deep concern. Recently, Iran’s development of a space launch vehicle (SLV) capable of putting a satellite into orbit establishes the technical basis from which Iran could develop long-range ballistic missile systems. Many of the technological building blocks involved in SLVs are the same as those required to develop long-range ballistic missiles.

Working with the United Nations, we have passed a number of UN Security Council Resolutions, including Resolution 1737, which require states to take the necessary measures to prevent the supply of, inter alia, specified equipment and technology that could contribute to Iran’s development of nuclear weapons delivery systems. We will continue with our friends and allies in the region to address the threats posed by Iran, including those related to its missile and nuclear programs and its support of terrorism.

Another clue into the Obama foreign policy through the lens of Secretary Clinton:

QUESTION: You know, with several years of diplomacy surrounding Iran’s nuclear program behind us now, from – with the EU-3 and the P-5+1, I think it’s clear that Iran is among the most predictable of the actors involved: They will continue to install centrifuges. Less reliable, it seems, are Russia and China, who will sometimes vote for sanctions on Iran and sometimes demand with the force of international law that they cease enrichment, but they don’t always behave in ways designed to give those documents meaning.

And so I wonder if you can address how this Administration can be more effective than its predecessor in developing the Russians and Chinese as more effective participants in this process.

MR. WOOD: Well, certainly, this Administration wants to engage Russia and China on these important issues to the international community. And Russia and China share our concern about what Iran has been doing, not only with regard to its nuclear program but, you know, with regard to missile technology. So we will, in the future, in discussions with both the Russians and the Chinese, and others, frankly, bring up this issue about Iran’s activities in both of these areas that I mentioned. And it’s of great concern what Iran has been doing, as I’ve mentioned before. So you can count on the fact that in future discussions in these two – with regard to these two countries, we’re going to raise those concerns.

QUESTION: They’ve been raised. Do you have concerns about the spotty record of the Russians and the Chinese with regard to Iran?

MR. WOOD: Well, I think, frankly, everyone can do better with regard to trying to limit Iran’s ability to act in these two particular areas of concern with regard to missile technology and its nuclear program. So it’s something we raise quite often with a number of countries, not just Russia and China. So you can expect that we will continue to do that.

All this began with a full schedule today, including breakfast with Biden. By all reports, it’s hard to imagine finding two happier professional pols more eager to start the day together.

But everyone was wondering where Secretary Clinton would travel first. Looks like it’s likely Japan, South Korea, and China. Not saying she’s visiting our bankers, excluding South Korea, but it’s obvious this part of the world is important.

art by Paul Szep (by permission)