Bill Clinton

===Military and foreign affairs===

{{Further|Foreign policy of the Bill Clinton administration}}

====Somalia====
[[File:President Clinton talks with Col. Paul Fletcher, USAF.jpeg|thumb|[[Colonel (United States)|Col.]] [[Paul J. Fletcher|Paul Fletcher]], [[United States Air Force|USAF]] and Clinton speak before boarding [[Air Force One]], November 4, 1999]]
American troops had first entered [[Somalia]] during the [[Foreign policy of the George H. W. Bush administration|Bush administration]] in response to a humanitarian crisis and [[Somali Civil War|civil war]]. Though initially involved to assist humanitarian efforts, the Clinton administration shifted the objectives set out in the mission and began pursuing a policy of attempting to neutralize Somali warlords. In 1993, during the [[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu]], [[MH-60 Black Hawk|two U.S. helicopters]] were shot down by [[rocket-propelled grenade]] attacks to their [[tail rotor]]s, trapping soldiers behind enemy lines. This resulted in an urban battle that killed 18 American soldiers, wounded 73 others, and resulted in one being taken prisoner.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web|title=What A Downed Black Hawk In Somalia Taught America|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/10/05/229561805/what-a-downed-black-hawk-in-somalia-taught-america|website=[[NPR]]|date=October 5, 2013|access-date=March 3, 2022}}</ref> Television news programs depicted the supporters of warlord [[Mohammed Aidid]] desecrating the corpses of troops.<ref name="NPR"/> The backlash resulting from the incident prompted in a drop in support for American intervention in the country and coincided with a more cautious use of troops throughout the rest of the Clinton administration.<ref name="NPR"/> Following a subsequent national security policy review, U.S. forces were withdrawn from Somalia and later conflicts were approached with fewer soldiers on the ground.<ref>{{cite news |title=The people killed them. Chopped them up. I consider myself lucky |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1993/oct/09/usa |work=The Guardian |date=October 9, 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dauber |first1=Cori Elizabeth |title=The Shot Seen 'Round the World: The Impact of the Images of Mogadishu on American Military Operations |journal=Rhetoric & Public Affairs |date=December 1, 2001 |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=653–687 |doi=10.1353/rap.2001.0066 |id={{Project MUSE|29928}} |jstor=41940265 |s2cid=153565083 }}</ref>

====Rwanda====

In April 1994, [[Rwandan genocide|genocide]] broke out in [[Rwanda]]. Intelligence reports indicate that Clinton was aware a "final solution to eliminate all [[Tutsi]]s" was underway, long before the administration publicly used the word "genocide".<ref>{{cite news|last=Carrol|first=Rory|title=US chose to ignore Rwandan genocide|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/31/usa.rwanda|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=April 1, 2004|access-date=February 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228191139/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/31/usa.rwanda|archive-date=December 28, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=[[Bureau of Intelligence and Research]] |title=Secretary [of State Warren Christopher]'s Morning Summary |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB117/Rw23.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB117/Rw23.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |date=April 26, 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] |title=National Intelligence Daily |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB117/Rw34.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB117/Rw34.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |date=April 23, 1994}}</ref> Fearing a reprisal of the events in Somalia the previous year, Clinton chose not to intervene.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ambush in Mogadishu: Transcript |publisher=[[PBS]] |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambush/etc/script.html |access-date=October 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506142008/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambush/etc/script.html |archive-date=May 6, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> Clinton has called his failure to intervene one of his main foreign policy failings, saying "I don't think we could have ended the violence, but I think we could have cut it down. And I regret it."<ref>{{cite news|last=Chozick|first=Amy|title=In Africa, Bill Clinton Toils for a Charitable Legacy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/us/politics/in-africa-bill-clinton-works-to-leave-a-charitable-legacy.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 4, 2012 |access-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022022004/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/us/politics/in-africa-bill-clinton-works-to-leave-a-charitable-legacy.html?pagewanted=all|archive-date=October 22, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Bosnia and Herzegovina====

[[File:U.S. delegation pose for a group photo with Air Force personnel during the flight to Tuzla, Bosnia - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg|thumb|left|Clinton with the U.S. delegation to Bosnia and Air Force personnel in a flight to [[Tuzla]] on December 22, 1997. Clinton is seen alongside future President [[Joe Biden]].]]
In 1993 and 1994, Clinton pressured Western European leaders to adopt a strong military policy against [[Bosnian Serbs]] during the [[Bosnian War]]. This strategy faced staunch opposition from the [[United Nations]], [[NATO]] allies, and Congressional Republicans, leading Clinton to adopt a more diplomatic approach.<ref>{{cite book|first=Carole|last=Hodge|title=Britain and the Balkans: 1991 Until the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qNqCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|pages=55–56|isbn=9781134425570}}</ref> In 1995, U.S. and NATO aircraft [[Operation Deliberate Force|bombed Bosnian Serb targets]] to halt attacks on UN safe zones and pressure them into a peace accord that would end the [[Bosnian war]]. Clinton deployed U.S. peacekeepers to Bosnia in late 1995, to uphold the subsequent [[Dayton Agreement]].<ref>Halberstam, 2001, pp 349–60.</ref>

====Irish peace talks====

[[File:President Bill Clinton and Gerry Adams.jpg|thumb|right|Clinton shaking hands with [[Gerry Adams]] outside a business in East Belfast, November 30, 1995]]
In 1992, before his presidency, Clinton proposed sending a peace envoy to [[Northern Ireland]], but this was dropped to avoid tensions with the British government. In November 1995, in a ceasefire during [[the Troubles]], Clinton became the first president to visit Northern Ireland, examining both of the two divided communities of [[Belfast]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=1995: Clinton kindles hope in Northern Ireland|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/30/newsid_4459000/4459860.stm|date=November 30, 1995 |access-date=December 12, 2019}}</ref> Despite [[Unionism in Ireland|unionist]] criticism, Clinton used his visit as a way to negotiate an end to the violent conflict, playing a key role in the [[Northern Ireland peace process|peace talks]] that produced the [[Good Friday Agreement]] in 1998.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=MacGinty |first1=Roger |title=American Influences on the Northern Ireland Peace Process |journal=Journal of Conflict Studies |date=1997 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=31–50 |url=https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/jcs17_02art02 }}</ref>

[[File:Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin 1994.jpg|thumb|right|Clinton plays the saxophone presented to him by Russian president [[Boris Yeltsin]] at a private dinner in Russia, January 13, 1994.]]

====Iran====

Clinton sought to continue the Bush administration's policy of limiting Iranian influence in the Middle East, which he laid out in the [[dual containment]] strategy. In 1994, Clinton declared that Iran was a "[[State Sponsors of Terrorism|state sponsor of terrorism]]" and a "rogue state", marking the first time that an American President used that term.<ref>[https://archive.today/20121209180115/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JdR4uv-pAv4J:www.germanlawjournal.com/article.php?id%3D188+Clinton:+Iran+is+state+sponsor+of+terrorism&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us The German Law Journal<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Subsequent executive orders heavily sanctioned Iran's oil industry and banned almost all trade between U.S. companies and the Iranian government. In February 1996, the Clinton administration agreed to pay Iran US$131.8{{nbsp}}million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|131.8|1996|r=2}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation-year|US}}) in settlement to discontinue a case brought by Iran in 1989 against the U.S. in the [[International Court of Justice]] after the shooting down of [[Iran Air Flight 655]] by the U.S. Navy [[guided missile cruiser]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2014/07/the-vincennes-downing-of-iran-air-flight-655-the-united-states-tried-to-cover-up-its-own-destruction-of-a-passenger-plane.html | title=America's Flight 17 | work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|first=Fred|last=Kaplan | date=July 23, 2014}}</ref> Following the 1997 election of reformist president [[Mohammad Khatami]], the administration eased sanctions.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

====Iraq====

In Clinton's [[1998 State of the Union Address]], he warned Congress that Iraqi dictator [[Saddam Hussein]] was building an arsenal of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.<ref>{{cite press release | title=Text of President Clinton's 1998 State of the Union Address | date=January 27, 1998 | first=Bill | last=Clinton | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/states/docs/sou98.htm | newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref>

Clinton signed the [[Iraq Liberation Act of 1998]] on October 31, 1998, which instituted a policy of "regime change" against Iraq, though it explicitly stated it did not provide for direct intervention on the part of American military forces.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/libera.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218092435/http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/libera.htm | archive-date=February 18, 2007 | title=Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, H.R.4655, One Hundred Fifth Congress of United States of America at Second Session | publisher=Library of Congress | access-date=February 18, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/4655 | title=H.R.4655—Iraq Liberation Act of 1998| date=October 31, 1998}}</ref> The administration then launched a four-day bombing campaign named [[Operation Desert Fox]], lasting from December 16 to 19, 1998. At the end of this operation Clinton announced that "So long as Saddam remains in power, he will remain a threat to his people, his region, and the world. With our allies, we must pursue a strategy to contain him and to constrain his weapons of mass destruction program, while working toward the day Iraq has a government willing to live at peace with its people and with its neighbors."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/225872 | title=Address to the Nation on Completion of Military Strikes in Iraq | publisher=Presidency.ucsb.edu | date=December 19, 1998 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> American and British aircraft in the Iraq no-fly zones attacked hostile Iraqi air defenses 166 times in 1999 and 78 times in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title= Colin Powell, former soldier and still an all-American hero |url= https://mclane65.tripod.com/cpowell.html|website= tripod.com |access-date= February 3, 2023 }}</ref>

====Osama bin Laden====

Capturing Osama bin Laden was an objective of the U.S. government during the Clinton presidency (and continued to be until [[Killing of Osama bin Laden|bin Laden's death in 2011]]).<ref>{{cite news | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/24/clinton.binladen/index.html | title=Bill Clinton: I got closer to killing bin Laden | work=CNN | date=September 24, 2006 | access-date=September 11, 2011}}</ref> Despite claims by [[Mansoor Ijaz]] and Sudanese officials that the Sudanese government had offered to arrest and extradite bin Laden, and that U.S. authorities rejected each offer,<ref name="articles.latimes.com">{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-dec-05-oe-ijaz05-story.html | title=Clinton Let Bin Laden Slip Away and Metastisize | work=Los Angeles Times | date=December 5, 2001 | access-date=February 22, 2020 | first=Mansoor | last=Ijaz}}</ref> the [[9/11 Commission Report]] stated that "we have not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/staff_statement_5.pdf | title=Staff Statement No. 5 | publisher=9/11 Commission | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref>

In response to a 1996 State Department warning about bin Laden<ref>{{cite news | last=Lichtblau | first=Eric | title=State Dept. Says It Warned About bin Laden in 1996 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/world/asia/state-dept-says-it-warned-about-bin-laden-in-1996.html | work=The New York Times | date=August 17, 2005 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> and the [[1998 United States embassy bombings|1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa]] by al-Qaeda (which killed 224 people, including 12 Americans), Clinton ordered several military missions to capture or kill bin Laden, all of which were unsuccessful. In August 1998, Clinton [[Operation Infinite Reach|ordered cruise missile strikes on terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan]], targeting the [[Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory]] in Sudan, which was suspected of assisting bin Laden in making chemical weapons, and bin Laden's terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. The factory was destroyed by the attack, resulting in the death of one employee and the wounding of 11 other people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CNN - U.S. missiles pound targets in Afghanistan, Sudan - August 21, 1998 |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/20/us.strikes.02/ |access-date=September 24, 2022 |website=CNN}}</ref> After the destruction of the factory, there was a medicine shortage in Sudan due to the plant providing 50 percent of Sudan's medicine, and the destruction of the plant led to a shortage of chloroquine, a drug which is used to treat malaria.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 14, 2007 |title=United States Terrorism in the Sudan (by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed) - Media Monitors Network |url=http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq16.html |access-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614024139/http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq16.html |archive-date=June 14, 2007 }}</ref> U.S. officials later acknowledged that there was no evidence the plant was acknowledging manufacturing or storing nerve gas.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cloud |first=David S. |date=April 23, 2006 |title=Colleagues Say C.I.A. Analyst Played by the Rules |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/washington/colleagues-say-cia-analyst-played-by-the-rules.html |access-date=September 24, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The attack provoked criticism of Clinton from journalists and academics including [[Christopher Hitchens]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |date=September 23, 1998 |title=They bomb pharmacies, don't they? |url=https://www.salon.com/1998/09/23/news_114/ |access-date=September 24, 2022 |website=Salon.com}}</ref> [[Seymour Hersh]],<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=October 5, 1998 |title=The Missiles of August |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/10/12/the-missiles-of-august |access-date=September 24, 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref> [[Max Taylor (psychologist)|Max Taylor]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Max |last2=Elbushra |first2=Mohamed E. |date=September 1, 2006 |title=Research Note: Hassan al-Turabi, Osama bin Laden, and Al Qaeda in Sudan |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=449–464 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/895988 |doi=10.1080/09546550600752022|s2cid=144769891 }}</ref> and others.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Noah |first=Timothy |date=April 1, 2004 |title=More on Clinton's Sudan bombing. |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/04/more-on-clinton-s-sudan-bombing.html |access-date=September 24, 2022 |magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref>

====Kosovo====

[[File:President Clinton is briefed on Kosovo - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg|thumb|left|Clinton during a briefing on Kosovo, March 31, 1999]]

In the midst of a brutal crackdown on [[Kosovo Liberation Army|ethnic Albanian separatists]] in the province of [[Kosovo]] by the [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], Clinton authorized the use of U.S. Armed Forces in a NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999, named [[Operation Allied Force]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Clines |first1=Francis X. |title=NATO Opens Broad Barrage Against Serbs as Clinton Denounces 'Brutal Repression' |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/032599kosovo-rdp.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 25, 1999}}</ref> The stated reasoning behind the intervention was to stop the [[ethnic cleansing]] (and what the Clinton administration labeled [[genocide]])<ref>{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=William |date=April 7, 1999 |url=https://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=582 |title=Secretary Cohen's Press Conference at NATO Headquarters |access-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-date=June 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604215218/https://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=582 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Clinton |first=Bill |date=August 30, 2011 |url=http://clinton6.nara.gov/1999/06/1999-06-25-press-conference-by-the-president.html |title=Press Conference by the President |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061006054609/http://clinton6.nara.gov/1999/06/1999-06-25-press-conference-by-the-president.html |archive-date=October 6, 2006 }}</ref> of Albanians by Yugoslav anti-guerilla military units. General [[Wesley Clark]] was [[Supreme Allied Commander Europe|Supreme Allied Commander of NATO]] and oversaw the mission. With [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244]], the bombing campaign ended on June 10, 1999. The resolution placed Kosovo under UN administration and authorized a [[Kosovo Force|peacekeeping force]] to be deployed to the region.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nato.int/kosovo/docu/u990610a.htm | title=Resolution 1244 (1999) | date=June 10, 1999 | publisher=NATO | access-date=August 17, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110629135857/http://www.nato.int/kosovo/docu/u990610a.htm| archive-date= June 29, 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref> NATO announced its soldiers all survived combat,<ref name="roblect">{{cite web | first=Adam | last=Roberts | url=https://lisd.princeton.edu/sites/lisd2017/files/Roberts_Lecture.pdf | title=The Impact of the Laws of War in Contemporary Conflicts (PDF) | date=April 10, 2003 | publisher=Princeton University | access-date=February 22, 2020 | archive-date=February 23, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223022737/https://lisd.princeton.edu/sites/lisd2017/files/Roberts_Lecture.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> though two died in an [[Boeing AH-64 Apache|Apache helicopter]] crash.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/335709.stm | title=Two die in Apache crash | work=BBC News | date=May 5, 1999 | access-date=August 17, 2011}}</ref> Journalists in the popular press criticized genocide statements by the Clinton administration as false and greatly exaggerated.<ref>{{cite web | last=Pilger | first=John | date=September 4, 2000 | url=https://www.newstatesman.com/node/151946 | title=US and British officials told us that at least 100,000 were murdered in Kosovo. A year later, fewer than 3,000 bodies have been found | work=[[New Statesman]] | access-date=August 28, 2019 | archive-date=May 4, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504061509/https://www.newstatesman.com/node/151946 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Daniel | last1=Pearl |first2=Robert | last2=Block | date=December 31, 1999 | url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB946593838546941319 | title=Despite Tales, the War in Kosovo Was Savage, but Wasn't Genocide | work=The Wall Street Journal | page= A1}}</ref> Prior to the bombing campaign on March 24, 1999, estimates showed that the number of civilians killed in the over year long [[Kosovo war|conflict in Kosovo]] had been approximately 1,800, with critics asserting that little or no evidence existed of genocide.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Layne |first1=Christopher |last2=Schwarz |first2=Benjamin |title=Was It A Mistake? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-03/26/081r-032600-idx.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 26, 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Cockburn |first1=Alexander |title=Where's the Evidence of Genocide of Kosovar Albanians? |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-29-me-27493-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=October 29, 1999}}</ref> In a post-war inquiry, the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] noted "the patterns of the expulsions and the vast increase in lootings, killings, rape, kidnappings and pillage once the NATO air war began on March 24."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Erlanger |first1=Steven |title=Monitors' Reports Provide Chronicle of Kosovo Terror |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/05/world/monitors-reports-provide-chronicle-of-kosovo-terror.html |work=The New York Times |date=February 22, 2020 |orig-date=December 5, 1999}}</ref> In 2001, the [[United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo|UN-supervised]] [[Judiciary of Kosovo|Supreme Court of Kosovo]] ruled that genocide (the [[genocidal intent|intent to destroy]] a people) did not take place, but recognized "a systematic campaign of terror, including murders, rapes, arsons and severe maltreatments" with the intention being the forceful departure of the Albanian population.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1530781.stm | title=Kosovo assault 'was not genocide' | work=BBC News | date=September 7, 2001 | access-date=August 17, 2011}}</ref> The term "ethnic cleansing" was used as an alternative to "genocide" to denote not just ethnically motivated murder but also displacement, though critics charge there is little difference.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | author=George J. Andreopoulos | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethnic-cleansing | title=Ethnic Cleansing | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> [[Slobodan Milošević]], the president of Yugoslavia at the time of the atrocities, was [[Trial of Slobodan Milošević|eventually brought to trial]] before the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] in [[the Hague]] on charges including [[crimes against humanity]] and war crimes for his role in the war.<ref name="Milosevic Charges">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1402790.stm#kosovo | title=The charges against Milosevic | work=BBC News | date=March 11, 2006 | access-date=August 17, 2011}}</ref> He died in 2006, before the completion of the trial.<ref name="Milosevic Charges" /><ref>{{cite news | title=Milosevic's war crimes trial a 4-year marathon | work=CNN | date=March 11, 2006 | url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/03/11/milosevic.trial/ | access-date=July 30, 2019}}</ref>

====China====

{{See also|1996 United States campaign finance controversy}}
[[File:Clinton and jiang.jpg|thumb|left|Clinton and Chinese president [[Jiang Zemin]] holding a joint press conference at the White House, October 29, 1997]]

Clinton aimed to increase trade with China, minimizing import tariffs and offering the country [[most favoured nation]] status in 1993, his administration minimized tariff levels in Chinese imports. Clinton initially conditioned extension of this status on [[Human rights in China|human rights]] reforms, but ultimately decided to extend the status despite a lack of reform in the specified areas, including free emigration, treatment of prisoners in terms of international human rights, and observation of human rights specified by UN resolutions, among others.<ref>Song, ed., ''Encyclopedia of Chinese-American Relations'' p 74.</ref>

Relations were damaged briefly by the [[United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade|American bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade]] in May 1999. Clinton apologized for the bombing, stating it was accidental.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://congressionalresearch.com/RS20547/document.php |title = Chinese Embassy Bombing In Belgrade: Compensation Issues |publisher = Congressional Research Service }}</ref>

[[File:Video Recording of Photo Opportunity at Camp David - NARA - 6037428.ogv|thumb|Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Barak]], President Clinton and Palestinian leader [[Yasser Arafat]] at [[Camp David]], July 2000]]

On October 10, 2000, Clinton signed into law the [[United States–China Relations Act of 2000]], which granted [[permanent normal trade relations]] (PNTR) trade status to China.<ref>{{cite news|last=Smith |first=Matt |url=http://cgi.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/10/10/clinton.pntr |title=Clinton signs China trade bill |work=CNN|date=October 10, 2000 |access-date=July 3, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714142523/http://cgi.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/10/10/clinton.pntr/ |archive-date=July 14, 2014 }}</ref> The president asserted that free trade would gradually open China to democratic reform.<ref>{{cite book | author=Peter B. Levy | year=2002 | url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00levy| url-access=registration | title=Encyclopedia of the Clinton Presidency | page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00levy/page/57 57] | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | isbn=978-0-313-31294-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Was Letting China Into the WTO a Mistake? |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2018-04-02/was-letting-china-wto-mistake |work=Foreign Affairs |date=April 2, 2018}}</ref>

In encouraging Congress to approve the agreement and China's accession to the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO), Clinton stated that more trade with China would advance America's economic interests, saying that "economically, this agreement is the equivalent of a one-way street. It requires China to open its markets—with a fifth of the world's population, potentially the biggest markets in the world—to both our products and services in unprecedented new ways."<ref>[https://www.iatp.org/sites/default/files/Full_Text_of_Clintons_Speech_on_China_Trade_Bi.htm "Text of Clinton's Speech on China Trade Bill"], Federal News Service, March 9, 2000</ref>

====Israeli-Palestinian conflict====
[[File:Summit_of_the_Peacemakers_in_Sharm_el-Sheikh,_March_13,_1996_II_Dan_Hadani_Archive.jpg|alt=Summit of the Peacemakers in Sharm el-Sheikh, March 1996|thumb|World Leaders attending the Sharm El Sheikh Summit for Peacemakers. From left: [[Hussein of Jordan|King Husein]], [[Shimon Peres]], Clinton, [[Hosni Mubarak]], [[Boris Yeltsin]] and [[Yasser Arafat]] in [[Sharm El Sheikh]], March 1996]]
Clinton attempted to end the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]. Secret negotiations mediated by Clinton between Israeli Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]] and [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) Chairman [[Yasser Arafat]] led to a historic declaration of peace in September 1993, called the [[Oslo Accords]], which were signed at the White House on September 13. The agreement led to the [[Israel–Jordan peace treaty]] in 1994 and the [[Wye River Memorandum]] in October 1998, however, this did not end the conflict. He brought Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Barak]] and Palestinian Authority chairman [[Yasser Arafat]] together at [[Camp David]] for the [[2000 Camp David Summit]], which lasted 14 days in July.<ref name="The Survivor" /> Following another attempt in December 2000 at [[Bolling Air Force Base]], in which the president offered the [[The Clinton Parameters|Clinton Parameters]], the situation broke down completely after the end of the [[Taba Summit]] and with the start of the [[Second Intifada]].<ref name="The Survivor" />