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JOHN KERRY: America Is 'Beginning To Behave Like A Poor Nation'

Feb 27, 2014, 21:57 IST

REUTERS/Evan Vucci/Pool U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pauses as he delivers a speech on climate change in Jakarta February 16, 2014.

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Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Wednesday that he thinks America is starting to act "like a poor nation" in terms of foreign policy.

"There's a new isolationism," Kerry said, adding, "We are beginning to behave like a poor nation."

Kerry cited Congress' lack of support for President Barack Obama's plan to launch an air strike against Syria last year as evidence America is backing off from attempts to influence the world stage like a less wealthy country. Additionally, he pointed to cuts in State Department funding that he described as "not a budget that does what we need" and not the budget Obama wanted to give the agency.

"Look at our budget. Look at our efforts to get the president's military force decision on Syria backed up on (Capitol Hill). Look at the House of Representatives with respect to the military and the budget," Kerry said.

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Kerry also took a shot at critics of Syrian peace talks. A second round of peace talks between the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition ended without tangible progress earlier this month.

"These people who say that it's failed or that it's a waste of time ... Where is their sense of history?" asked Kerry. "How many years did the Vietnam talks take? ... These things don't happen in one month. I mean it's just asinine, frankly, to be making an argument that after three weeks it's failed."

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