January 20, 1993: Warren M. Christopher was sworn in as Secretary of State. He had been Deputy Secretary of State during the administration of President Jimmy Carter.
January 22, 1993: President Clinton announced the lifting of anti-abortion restrictions on U.S. funding to non-governmental organizations involved in family planning. These restrictions, dating from 1984, were known as the "Mexico City Policy."
January 27, 1993: Clifton R. Wharton, Jr., was sworn in as Deputy Secretary of State. Wharton became the highest-ranking African-American to serve in the Department of State. His father was the first African-American to become a career Foreign Service Officer and to be named an Ambassador. He served until November 8, 1993.
February 5, 1993: Secretary of State Christopher announced a reorganization plan. A new Under Secretary for Global Affairs would be created to oversee the Bureaus of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; Narcotics, Terrorism, and Crime; Population, Refugees, and Migration; and Oceans, Environment, and Science. A new Ambassador at Large would be appointed to help manage policy toward the former Soviet Republics/New Independent States. The Ambassadors at Large for Refugee Affairs, Nonproliferation Policy and Nuclear Energy Affairs, and Burdensharing were eliminated. The titles of two more Under Secretaries would be changed to reflect broader responsibilities: International Security would become "Arms Control and International Security," and Economic and Agricultural Affairs would become "Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs." To streamline administration, Under Secretaries would be given more authority over the bureaus, while the number of Deputy Assistant Secretaries and equivalents would be reduced.
February 10, 1993: Secretary of State Christopher announced a six-step program for U.S. involvement in the peace process in the former Yugoslavia.
March 10, 1993: Secretary of State Christopher announced that the United States and Russia had invited all participants in the Middle East peace process to resume negotiations in Washington on April 20. The starting date was later changed to April 27.
April 3-4, 1993: President Clinton and President Yeltsin held their first summit meeting at Vancouver, British Columbia. Their Vancouver Declaration reaffirmed U.S. and Russian commitments to cooperate "to promote democracy, security and peace." A Commission on scientific and technical cooperation, to be headed by Vice President Albert Gore and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin was formed. The Commission held its first meeting August 31-September 2, and met at least once a year thereafter.
April 12-15, 1993: G-7 Foreign and Finance Ministers met in Tokyo to discuss economic aid to Russia.
April 27, 1993: The United States recognized the independence of Eritrea. Diplomatic relations were established on June 11.
May 22, 1993: Secretary Christopher and the Foreign Ministers of France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Spain announced a joint action program intended to end the conflict in Bosnia.
May 26, 1993: Vice President Gore held meetings at the Department of State to seek ideas from the foreign affairs community on "reinventing government."
July 7-9, 1993: The G-7 Economic Summit meeting took place in Tokyo. Participants committed themselves to promoting economic growth, economic reform in Russia and the former Soviet republics, fighting the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and seeking a negotiated peace in Bosnia.
August 13, 1993: The United States, Mexico, and Canada completed negotiations on supplemental agreements to NAFTA involving labor cooperation, environmental protection, and infrastructure development. President Clinton signed the agreements on September 14.
September 13, 1993: Signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles. Both parties agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority with an elected Council to administer the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli withdrawal from these territories would take place during a five-year period.
October 1, 1993: The United States hosted an international conference to provide economic support for the Middle East peace process. Forty-three nations were represented.
October 3, 1993: Eighteen U.S. soldiers were killed when an attempt to arrest Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid in Mogadishu met with massive armed resistance. On October 7, President Clinton announced that all U.S. forces would be withdrawn from Somalia by March 31, 1994.
October 13, 1993: Dedication of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center.
November 3, 1993: The United States ratified the Open Skies Treaty, which had been signed March 24, 1992 and approved by the Senate August 6, 1993.
November 10, 1993: The United States established an Embassy to Bosnia-Herzegovina at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna. The Embassy opened in Sarajevo on July 4, 1994.
November 17, 1993: The House of Representatives approved the North American Free Trade Agreement.
November 17-20, 1993: President Clinton opened the first Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit meeting in Seattle after an APEC Ministerial Meeting. Participants pledged to develop "a community of Asia-Pacific economies" committed to "openness and partnership."
December 3, 1993: The United States opened a Liaison Office in Skopje. It recognized the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia February 9, 1994.
December 15, 1993: The Uruguay Round of GATT Multilateral Trade negotiations concluded. On January 1, 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO) replaced GATT as a forum for promoting international commerce.
January 10-11, 1994: President Clinton attended a NATO Summit Meeting in Brussels, during which he pledged to maintain at least 100,000 troops in Europe, and established the "Partnership for Peace" program to establish closer political and military relations between NATO and former Warsaw Pact states, former Soviet republics, and other non-member states.
January 12-15, 1994: President Clinton made his first official visit to Moscow. Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin reaffirmed their commitment to a partnership for global stability and peace. They also agreed to de-target their ICBMs by Mary 30. President Kravchuk of Ukraine signed an agreement transferring its nuclear weapons to Russia for disassembly.
February 3, 1994: The United States lifted its trade embargo against Vietnam.
March 1, 1994: Representatives of Bosnia's Muslim and Croat communities and the Foreign Minister of Croatia signed a framework agreement in Washington establishing a bicommunal federation in Bosnia.
March 18, 1994: Signing of a Muslin-Croat Federation agreement for Bosnia. President Franjo Tudjman of Croatia and President Alija Izetbegovic and Prime Minister Haris Silajdzik of Bosnia attended the ceremony in Washington.
March 31, 1994: COCOM, an international system intended to control exports of advanced military technology to the Soviet Union and its allies during the Cold War, was allowed to expire. In July 1996, the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies took its place.
April 30, 1994: The Department of State Authorization Bill for 1994-95 (PL 103-236) was signed into law, making possible the implementation of Secretary Christopher's reorganization plan. Provisions included the authorization of a fifth Under Secretary of State and up to 20 Assistant Secretaries. The latter specifically included an Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. The office of Counselor of the Department of State was abolished, and Counselor Timothy E. Wirth became Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs.
May 4, 1994: Prime Minister Rabin and Chairman Arafat signed an agreement in Cairo to implement the Israel-Palestinian Declaration of Principles, which made possible the transfer of Gaza and Jericho to administration by the Palestinian Authority.
May 12, 1994: Several organizational changes announced in Secretary Christopher's Reorganization Plan went into effect.
1. The Under Secretary for International Security Affairs became the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.
2. The Under Secretary for Economic and Agricultural Affairs became the Under Secretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs.
3. The Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs and the Office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary and Coordinator of International Labor Affairs became the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
4. The Bureau of Refugee Programs became the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and was headed by an Assistant Secretary. The new Bureau also assumed the functions of the Ambassador at Large for Refugee Affairs.
5. The office of the Coordinator for International Communications Policy was abolished and its functions transferred to the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
6. The office of Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism remained a separate entity.
June 22, 1994: Russia joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program.
June 30, 1994: The United States signed an agreement that reformed the deep seabed mining provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The agreement removed objections that had kept the United States from signing the Convention in 1983. President Clinton submitted the Convention to the Senate on October 7.
July 8-9, 1994: The G-7 Economic Summit meeting was held at Naples. President Clinton described it as the first Economic Summit in which Russia had participated as an equal partner. President Yeltsin joined G-7 leaders in calling on all parties to the Bosnian conflict to accept the Contact Group's peace plan. The G-7 leaders agreed to help Russia join GATT.
July 25, 1994: Prime Minister Rabin and King Hussein signed the Washington Declaration, in which Israel and Jordan declared peace with each other.
September 5-12, 1994: The UN International Conference on Population and Development was held in Cairo. Vice President Gore led the U.S. delegation.
September 18, 1994: After a meeting with former President Carter, retired Gen. Colin Powell, and Senator Sam Nunn, Haiti's military leaders agreed to relinquish power peacefully A UN force led by U.S. troops entered Haiti to make possible the restoration of a democratic government.
September 27-28, 1994: President Yeltsin made a state visit to Washington. He and President Clinton agreed to continue nuclear arms reductions, issued a joint statement of principles for the development of trade, economic cooperation, and investment, and signed three commercial agreements.
October 4, 1994: The United States and China issued a Joint Statement on Missile Proliferation in which China agreed to ban the export of surface-to-surface missiles controlled by the MTCR.
October 21, 1994: An Agreed Framework agreement with North Korea froze that country's nuclear program. Existing North Korean reactors would be replaced by light-water reactors less capable of generating weapons-grade plutonium, North Korea would report on its past nuclear activities to the IAEA, and would remain a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. A Korean Energy Development Organization would supply North Korea with alternative energy sources.
October 26, 1994: President Clinton attended the signing of the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty in Cairo.
December 1, 1994: During a NATO Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, Secretary of State Christopher announced that NATO should consider extending membership to new democracies in Eastern Europe.
December 5, 1994: Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin attended the 1994 CSCE Summit in Budapest. The United States, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan announced that they would put the START I Treaty into effect. Ukraine also signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Both Presidents announced that they would seek prompt ratification of the START II Treaty.
December 9-11, 1994: Thirty-three Western Hemisphere heads of state and government attended the first Summit of the Americas in Miami. They agreed to work toward establishing a Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005.
January 5, 1995: The State Department proposed a reorganization plan that would incorporate AID, ACDA, and USIA.
January 28, 1995: The United States opened a Liaison Office in Hanoi, Vietnam.
February 10, 1995: The Bureau for International Narcotics Matters became the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
February 21, 1995: The United States and Mexico signed a Framework Agreement allowing Mexico to draw $20 billion from the U.S. Treasury's Exchange Stabilization Fund to avert an economic crisis.
March 15, 1995: Senator Jesse Helms proposed a reorganization plan that would incorporate ACDA, AID, and USIA into a "new, integrated, and revitalized State Department." He also proposed elimination of the Under Secretary for Global Affairs and the establishment of an Under Secretary for Export Trade, Economics, and Business.
April 18, 1995: The Team Leaders of the Strategic Management Initiative issued their report outlining additional proposals for increasing the efficiency of the Department of State.
May 9-10, 1995: President Clinton visited Moscow to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. He and President Yeltsin reaffirmed their commitments to strategic arms reductions, nuclear nonproliferation, and economic reform, and freer trade and investment.
May 25, 1995: The United States hosted a Conference on Trade and Investment in Ireland intended to promote the peace process in Northern Ireland by encouraging economic development.
June 15-17, 1995: The G-7 Economic Summit meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia sought to increase the stability of the world financial system.
July 11, 1995: President Clinton announced the normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Secretary of State Christopher opened the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi on August 6.
September 4-15, 1995: The UN Fourth World Conference on Women met in Beijing. First Lady Hillary Clinton served as Honorary Chair of the U.S. delegation.
September 8, 1995: The Foreign Ministers of Bosnia, Croatia, and Yugoslavia endorsed a set of Agreed Basic Principles for a single Bosnian state (composed of the Bosnian Federation and the Republica Srpska) within its internationally recognized boundaries.
September 28. 1995: King Hussein, President Mubarak, Prime Minister Rabin, and Chairman Arafat met in Washington to sign an Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement to advance the peace process. The next day, the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority established a Trilateral Committee to promote economic cooperation.
October 18, 1995: Secretary of State Christopher announced that he had invited the Presidents of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia to begin peace talks at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, starting October 31.
October 23, 1995: Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin met in Hyde Park, NY following the UN General Assembly to discuss nuclear arms reductions and a possible Russian role in peacekeeping in Bosnia.
October 29, 1995: Secretary of State Christopher attended a Middle East Economic Summit meeting in Amman.
November 21, 1995: Representatives of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia initialed a peace agreement for Bosnia at Dayton. The agreement provided for a unitary Bosnian state and the right of refugees to return to their homes. A U.S. and NATO Implementation Force (IFOR) would supervise the accords. The formal signing took place in Paris on December 14.
December 14, 1995: The Senate approved the Department of State Authorization Bill, but without the House-approved plan to integrate ACDA, AID, and USIA into the State Department. Instead, the agencies and the Department were required to devise $1.7 billion in reductions over five years. A conference version of the bill was approved on March 7, 1996 but was vetoed by President Clinton.
January 26, 1996: The Senate ratified START II.
February 7, 1996: The U.S. Embassy in Sudan was closed and its personnel were moved to Nairobi.
March 13, 1996: World leaders held a "Summit of the Peacemakers" at Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt, to condemn terrorist attacks in Israel and to declare support for the Middle East peace process.
April 20-21, 1996: The P-8 Summit on Nuclear Safety and Security was held in St. Petersburg, Russia, followed by a U.S.-Russian Summit meeting in Moscow.
April 30, 1996: The United States and Israel signed a Counter-Terrorism Cooperation Accord.
June 26-30, 1996: The G-7 held their Economic Summit Meeting at Lyon, France. Participants issued a declaration pledging to fight terrorism by all legal means. Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin represented Russia, which attended for the first time.
September 30-October 2, 1996: President Clinton hosted a Summit meeting in Washington for King Hussein, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Chairman Arafat in an attempt to revitalize the Middle East peace process.
October 1, 1996: The Office of Foreign Missions was merged with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
January 23, 1997: Madeleine K. Albright was sworn in as Secretary of State. Albright, who had served as U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 1993, was the first woman ever appointed to the position.
March 21, 1997: At the U.S.-Russian Summit meeting in Helsinki, Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin agreed to begin negotiations on START III nuclear arms reductions once START II had been ratified. They agreed to disagree about extending NATO membership to former members of the Warsaw Pact. The next G-7 Economic Summit, to be held in Denver, Colorado, would be called the "Summit of the Eight," with Russia included in many of its deliberations.
April 18, 1997: President Clinton announced plans to reorganize the Department of State and other foreign affairs agencies. The Arms Control and Disarmament Agency would be incorporated into the Department within one year; the U.S. Information Agency would be incorporated within two years. Certain administrative functions of the Agency for International Development would be transferred to State within two years, and the International Development Cooperation Agency would be abolished.
April 24, 1997: The Senate approved the Chemical Weapons Convention by a vote of 74 to 26.
May 23, 1997: Secretary of State Albright announced that Acting Under Secretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy would be appointed to devise a plan for the integration of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the U.S. Information Agency into the Department of State.
May 27, 1997: Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin met at the Elysee Palace in Paris to sign the NATO-Russia Founding Act, in which both parties agreed to consult and to seek cooperation on a wide range of issues of mutual concern. A NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council was established in Brussels.
June 19-20, 1997: The G-8 Economic Summit in Denver was the first in which Russia participated as an equal. Russia was admitted to the "Paris Club" of creditor nations.
July 8-9, 1997: President Clinton attended a NATO Summit Meeting in Madrid. NATO formally invited the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to become members. NATO also formalized its partnership with Ukraine, creating a NATO-Ukraine Commission to meet semi-annually in Brussels.
August 5, 1997: David J. Scheffer became the first Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues.
August 7, 1997: The office of Counselor of the Department of State was re-established. Wendy R. Sherman assumed its duties.
October 28-30, 1997: President Jiang Zemin of China made a State visit to Washington.
November 10, 1997: President Clinton asked Congress to defer consideration of a bill granting him fast track authority to negotiate trade agreements.
December 1-11, 1997: Representatives of 191 countries met in Kyoto, Japan, where they adopted the Kyoto Protocol, outlining measures to meet the challenge of global warming. Follow-up meetings were held in Bonn (October 25-November 5, 1999) and at The Hague (November 13-24, 2000) in efforts to devise economically sound means of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
December 15, 1997: ACDA Director John D. Holum was designated as Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs pending the integration of ACDA into the Department of State.
January 14, 1998: The United States signed a Visiting Forces Agreement with the Philippines, which was intended to facilitate military cooperation between the two countries since the closure of U.S. bases in 1992. The Philippine Senate ratified the Agreement on May 27, 1999.
March 23-April 2, 1998: President Clinton made the first major trip to Africa by a U.S. President since 1978, visiting Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, and Senegal.
April 30, 1998: The Senate voted to admit the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to NATO. The Senate's resolution was ratified May 21.
May 15-17, 1998: The G-8 Economic Summit was held in Birmingham, England.
June 24-July 7, 1998: President Clinton made a state visit to China. The two countries affirmed their goal to halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Both countries agreed to strengthen controls on the export of dual use chemicals. China stated that it would actively study joining the Missile Technology Control Regime.
August 7, 1998: Terrorist bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam resulted in the deaths of 224 people, including 12 U.S. personnel, 32 Foreign Service Nationals, and 8 U.S. contract employees. On August 20, the U.S. Navy conducted cruise missile attacks on suspected terrorist camps in Afghanistan and on a pharmaceutical factory in the Sudan suspected of making chemical weapons.
September 1-2, 1998: President Clinton visited Moscow for a Summit meeting. A joint statement reaffirmed both nations' commitment to promote non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Negotiations for a START III Treaty would begin after Russia ratified START II.
September 28, 1998: President Clinton hosted a meeting between Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Netanyahu in Washington. They agreed to hold further Israeli-Palestinian talks in October.
October 21, 1998: The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, part of an omnibus spending bill, was signed into law. It mandated the incorporation of the USIA and ACDA into the Department of State. It also authorized the appointment of up to 6 Under Secretaries of State and up to 24 Assistant Secretaries.
October 23, 1998: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chairman Yasir Arafat signed the Wye River Memorandum after 9 days of negotiations in Washington and at the Wye River Plantation on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The Memorandum called for a three-stage Israeli withdrawal from territory on the West Bank; the first phase began November 20.
December 9, 1998: Secretary of State Albright dedicated the first American Presence Post (APP) in Lyon, France. APPs are American diplomatic posts that offer limited services and are designed to focus on promoting U.S. economic and commercial ties in locations undergoing rapid economic growth. APPS were later opened in Bordeaux, Lille, Rennes, and Toulouse.
December 12-15, 1998: President Clinton visited Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
January 8, 1999: Two commissions headed by retired Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr. issued their reports on the security of U.S. diplomatic missions in the wake of the August 7 embassy bombings. The Commissions recommended that $1.4 billion a year be spent over ten years to improve embassy security, and suggested that embassies in high-risk areas be closed and replaced by "super-embassies" serving regions.
January 12, 1999: The Bureau of Inter-American Affairs became the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Responsibility for Canadian affairs was transferred from the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, which became the Bureau of European Affairs.
February 23, 1999: Serbian and Kosovar representatives reached a tentative agreement to grant more autonomy to Kosovo over a three-year period. The Yugoslav Government later rejected the Rambouillet Agreement since it also called for the admission of 30,000 NATO troops to Kosovo.
March 12, 1999: The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland joined NATO. Their Foreign Ministers attended a ceremony with Secretary of State Albright at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri.
March 23, 1999: The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade was closed and all personnel were withdrawn. The next day, NATO air forces began military action against Serbia-Montenegro in order to prevent "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo.
April 1, 1999: ACDA was incorporated into the Department of State. Former ACDA Director John D. Holum became Senior Adviser for Arms Control and International Security pending Senate confirmation of his nomination as Under Secretary. The Under Secretary would oversee two new Bureaus: Arms Control and Nonproliferation, as well as the existing Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. A fourth Bureau of Verification and Compliance was established December 21, 1999.
April 23-25, 1999: Heads of state and government from 37 nations met in Washington for NATO's 50th Anniversary Summit. They discussed the conflict in Kosovo and means by which NATO could promote peace, democracy, and international security.
May 5, 1999:: Robert A. Seipel assumed his duties as Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom.
May 27, 1999: The Bureau of Finance and Management Policy became the Bureau of Financial Management and Policy.
June 4, 1999: James C. Hormel was appointed Ambassador to Luxembourg. He was the first avowed homosexual to be appointed as a Chief of Mission. President Clinton used a recess appointment to circumvent a hold that Senate conservatives had placed on an earlier nomination of Hormel in 1997.
June 9, 1999: Serbia agreed to withdraw its forces from Kosovo within 11 days. KFOR, an international peacekeeping force of 50,000 soldiers, would oversee the disengagement and safeguard the return of refugees. NATO's air campaign ended the next day, the first NATO (and Russian) troops entered Kosovo on June 12, and hostilities formally ended on June 20.
June 19-20, 1999: The G-8 Economic Summit was held in Cologne. The United States and Russia agreed to continue arms reduction negotiations. Participants pledged reconstruction aid to Kosovo and other states in the former Yugoslavia, but linked aid to Serbia to political and economic reforms.
June 21-23, 1999: After the G-8 Summit, President Clinton visited Slovenia and Macedonia.
July 7, 1999: The U.S. Embassy in Germany was moved from Bonn to Berlin. The former Embassy office in Bonn closed April 3, 2000.
August 9, 1999: M. Osman Siddique was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Nauru. Siddique, who was born in Bangladesh, was the first Muslim to become a U.S. Ambassador.
September 9, 1999: The Department of State issued its first annual International Report on Religious Freedom.
September 12, 1999: President Clinton met the new Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for the first time during the APEC Summit at Auckland, New Zealand. They discussed the Russian economy, prospects for Russian ratification of START II, the 1972 ABM Treaty and the situation in the North Caucasus.
October 1, 1999: The U.S. Information Agency was incorporated into the Department of State. An independent Broadcasting Board of Governors was formed to oversee international broadcasting functions that were not included in the merger. The position of Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs was created to oversee new Bureaus of Educational and Cultural Affairs and International Information Programs, as well as the Department's existing Bureau of Public Affairs. Evelyn S. Lieberman became Under Secretary.
October 13, 1999: The Senate rejected the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by a vote of 51 to 48.
November 2, 1999: President Clinton and Prime Minister Putin met in Oslo to discuss the conflict in Chechnya, the CFE Treaty, and the ABM Treaty.
November 15, 1999: The United States and China signed a trade agreement in Beijing which would take effect after China joined the World Trade Organization and Congress granted permanent normal trade relations.
November 18, 1999: Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin met during the OSCE Summit Meeting in Istanbul and discussed arms control, Chechnya, and events in Europe.
November 23, 1999: President Clinton visited Kosovo.
November 29, 1999: The section of an omnibus spending bill dealing with arms control, nonproliferation, and security assistance included authorization for an Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance.
November 30-December 3, 1999: The World Trade Organization held a meeting in Seattle amid large-scale protests by critics of globalization. President Clinton urged the delegates to take action to protect the environment and workers' rights. No agreement was reached on a future agenda.
January 3-10, 2000: Israeli and Syrian negotiators met at Shepherdstown, West Virginia in an attempt to conclude a peace treaty.
March 8, 2000: President Clinton sent a bill granting permanent normal trade relations to China to the Congress. The House of Representatives approved it on May 24, the Senate did so on September 19. The bill was signed into law October 10.
March 19-25, 2000: President Clinton visited India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. In India, the two governments agreed to join efforts to encourage strategic stability in Asia and reaffirmed their commitment to reducing nuclear weapons. In Pakistan, President Clinton became the first U.S. President to address the people of Pakistan. In his speech, the President noted that the absence of democracy hampered Pakistan's economic development. On March 26, President Clinton met with President Assad of Syria in Geneva to promote the Middle East peace process.
April 17, 2000: Department Spokesman James Rubin reported the disappearance of a laptop computer containing classified information from the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. On April 24, Secretary Albright transferred responsibility for the most highly classified data in the Department from Intelligence and Research to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. On May 3, Albright told all Department personnel: "If you are not professional about security, you are a failure."
May 18, 2000: The Senate defeated an amendment to a military construction bill that would have required the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Kosovo by July 1, 2001 unless Congress authorized continuation of their mission. The House of Representatives defeated a similar amendment to a defense authorization bill the day before.
May 24, 2000: Israel withdrew from the security zone that it had occupied in southern Lebanon since 1985.
June 3-5, 2000: President Clinton held his first Summit Meeting with newly-elected Russian President Putin in Moscow. They reaffirmed their commitment to strategic arms reductions, but remained at odds on whether ballistic missile defense could be reconciled with the ABM Treaty. They also agreed to create a joint data exchange center in Moscow to provide for advance notifications of launchings of spacecraft and ballistic missiles.
June 5, 2000: The National Commission on Terrorism, headed by former Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, issued its report.
June 19, 2000: The name of the Bureau of Personnel was changed to the "Bureau of Human Resources."
Following a summit meeting between the Presidents of North and South Korea, the United States removed some of its economic sanctions against North Korea.
July 11-26, 2000: Prime Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat held a peace conference at Camp David, MD. They did not succeed in reaching an agreement.
July 13, 2000: The United States signed a trade agreement, subject to Congressional approval, with Vietnam.
July 21-23, 2000: The G-8 Economic Summit was held at Nago, Okinawa. Participants stressed debt relief to third-world nations.
July 28, 2000: Secretary Albright met with North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun during an ASEAN meeting in Bangkok. This was the highest-level meeting thus far between U.S. and North Korean officials.
September 6-8, 2000: President Clinton met with 11 heads of state and government at the UN's "Millenium Summit."
September 22, 2000: The State Department announced that the security clearance of Ambassador Martin Indyck had been suspended pending investigation of possible security violations. Indyck later resumed his duties as Ambassador to Israel.
The Main State Department Building was dedicated as the "Harry S Truman Building."
October 12, 2000: After the ouster of Slobodan Milosevic as President of Yugoslavia, the United States began lifting economic sanctions against Yugoslavia.
October 10-12, 2000: Jo Myong Rok, Vice Chairman of North Korea's National Defense Commission, met with President Clinton and other senior officials in Washington. He was the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the United States.
October 23-25, 2000: Secretary of State Albright became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit North Korea.
November 9 and 12, 2000: President Clinton met with Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Barak in an attempt to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
November 14-16, 2000: President Clinton attended the APEC Leaders' Meeting in Brunei.
November 16-19, 2000: President Clinton became the first U.S. President to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War.
November 17, 2000: The United States joined the United Kingdom, France, and Germany in restoring formal diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
November 24, 2000: Negotiations among more than 170 nations, including the United States, at The Hague on an international treaty on global warming ended without agreement because of inability to resolve differences over curbing the release of greenhouse gases.
December 31, 2000: David J. Scheffer, Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes, signed for the United States the 1998 treaty establishing an International Criminal Court to try individuals on charges on genocide, war crimes, and other crimes against humanity.
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