Vice President Gore has played an instrumental role in shaping and implementing our nation's foreign policy over the course of the last eight years.

As one of President Clinton's chief foreign policy advisors, the Vice President has supported the Administration's efforts to promote peace across the globe, from Northern Ireland to the Middle East. He has also backed the President when he has ordered the use of force to defend American interests and values, from Haiti to Kosovo.

To capitalize on the Vice President's foreign policy expertise, President Clinton entrusted him with the responsibility of co-chairing five Binational Commissions, each with a country undergoing profound transformation of strategic importance to the United States - Russia, South Africa, Egypt, Ukraine and Khazakstan. The goals of each Binational Commission are to strengthen bilateral relations by:

• Taking practical steps to strengthen cooperation by focussing on concrete results
• Encouraging cooperative, creative problem-solving
• Stimulating synergy between cooperative programs
• Elevating important issues to the bilateral decision-making agenda
• Developing enduring bilateral contacts at all levels of government

The U.S.-Russia Binational Commission, launched in 1993, epitomizes the success of this innovative approach to U.S. foreign policy. The Commission consists of ten committees and working groups chaired by senior U.S. and Russian officials and specializing in issues ranging from defense conversion to the environment. Regular meetings of these committees and working groups culminate in annual meetings between Vice President Gore and his Russian counterpart. Under the Vice President's leadership, the U.S.-Russia Binational Commission has achieved concrete results, including:

• Brokering agreements to denuclearize Ukraine and Khazakstan

• Supervising the Cooperative Threat Reductions Initiative, aimed at destroying hundreds of ballistic missile silos, bombers and submarines and thus reducing nuclear dangers
• Developing joint efforts to combat diptheria and other infectious diseases threatening to undermine public health in Russia
• Reaching agreement to shut down three Russian plutonium reactors that posed a significant nuclear proliferation risk
• Employing thousands of former weapons scientists in peaceful, civilian occupations to prevent them from sharing their expertise with rogue states
• Signing mutual legal assistance agreements designed to strengthen bilateral law enforcement cooperation

In addition to his work on the Binational Commissions, the Vice President has spearheaded a number of other Administration's foreign policy initiatives, including:

• The U.S.-China Forum on Environment and Development - Working with his Chinese counterpart, Vice President Gore has worked to reduce pollution and protect the global environment
• The Summit of the Americas - Vice President Gore inaugurated the first Summit of Americas gathering all democracies of the hemisphere in Mexico City.
• Global Disaster Information Network - Vice President Gore has led the Administration's efforts to draw upon resources worldwide to better forecast and prepare for natural disasters that could threaten the United States.
• Global Forum on Reinventing Government - Vice President Gore has expanded his efforts to make government more responsive and efficient, thus reducing the likelihood of crime and corruption.

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