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Summary
Warning that a steel vise is crushing civic organizations and the human spirit in many countries, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged that promoting democracy and civil society would remain pillars of US foreign policy. Addressing a meeting of the Community of Democracies, an international organization that promotes democracy, Clinton said the US had pledged $2 million to create a fund to provide support for nongovernment groups, and she urged other countries and not-for-profit organizations to contribute. Clinton praised Poland's democratic journey, calling it a case study of how a vibrant civil society can produce progress. During the past two centuries, this central European nation has been repeatedly erased from the map and overrun by its neighbors. However, since overthrowing communism in the 1980s, Poland has grown into a democratic and economic success story. Poles vote today in a runoff election to select a new president. Earlier, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said the American independence movement gave the world the profound principal that political sovereignty rests with the people. Clinton and Sikorski witnessed the signing of an updated missile defense agreement that will allow US missile interceptors to be stationed in Poland.
