US should learn from emerging power like India: Clinton

The US is 8220;updating8221; its foreign policy priorities to include economics at 8220;every step of the way,8221; she said speaking at the Economic Club of New York on 8216;Economic Statecraft8217;.

8220;Emerging powers like India and Brazil put economics at the centre of their foreign policies,8221; she said.

When leaders in the two countries approach any international challenge,just as they approach a domestic challenge,one of the first questions they ask is how will this affect their economic growth,Clinton noted.

8220;We need to be asking the same question,not because the answer will dictate every one of our foreign policy choices,it will not,but it must be a significant part of that equation,8221; she said.

America8217;s foreign policy during a large part of the last decade has 8220;by necessity8221; focused on places where 8220;we faced the greatest dangers,8221; Clinton said.

While responding to threats will always be central to US national security,8221;it cannot be our foreign policy,8221; she said.

8220;In the decades ahead,our foreign policy must focus just as intensely on the places where we have the greatest opportunities. And often,those will be economic in nature8230; we have to position ourselves to lead in a world where security is shaped in boardrooms and on trading floors as well as on battlefields.8221;

With the world8217;s strategic and economic centre of gravity 8220;shifting east8221;,Clinton said the US is focusing more on the Asia Pacific region.

An investment that America made over the past century to build a strong network of relationships and institutions across the Atlantic 8220;continues to pay off today,8221; she said.

Referring to the month-long Occupy Wall protests against corporate America,Clinton said the demonstrations are a reminder that the country and its leaders have a great deal of work to do as families across the US continue to struggle to get back on their feet after the 8220;worst economic downturn in my lifetime.8221;

Around the globe,economic forces are transforming foreign policy realities. 8220;We have seen governments toppled by economic crisis. Revolutions born in a Tunisian marketplace have swept across an entire region. Europe faces arguably the most severe economic test since the Second World War,thanks to recession and debt.

8220;And everywhere I travel,I see countries gaining influence less because of the size of their armies than because of the growth of their economies,8221; Clinton said.