ABSTRACT
Reflecting the priority placed on economic matters by the Bill Clinton administration, Warren Christopher said foreign policy should first and foremost serve the economic needs of the United States (US). One of the first efforts by the Clinton administration to define a new foreign policy strategy came in the form of "assertive multilateralism." Assertive multilateralism implied US leadership working through multilateral channels such as the United Nations to achieve American foreign policy goals and objectives. The failure of assertive multilateralism forced the administration to define more carefully its foreign policy and national security strategies, although strong elements of multilateralism were retained. Few days after Anthony Lake's speech, President Clinton discussed his foreign policy in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly. President Clinton's major contribution to US strategy in the post-Cold War period was to bring a more integrated and balanced approach to US foreign policy and national security.
