"We must acknowledge that our national security agencies have not yet drawn fully on the strengths of our great nation. Minorities still make up less than 20 per cent of our senior diplomats," Rice said in her address at a Florida University.
"Less than 15 per cent of senior military officers and senior intelligence officials. Too often, our national security workforce has been what former Florida Senator Bob Graham called 'white, male, and Yale'. In the halls of power, in the faces of our national security leaders, America is still not fully reflected," Rice said in her address, which is expected to have a long-term implication on the diversity of the national security apparatus.
Rice argued that a diverse national security workforce enables US to unlock all of its nation's talent. There are some 320 million people in the United States. Nearly 40 percent are minorities, and an increasing number of them are earning college and graduate degrees, she said.
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In Obama's first term, Rice served as the US Ambassador to the UN.
Rice said leaders from diverse backgrounds can often come up with more creative insights, proffer alternative solutions, and thus make better decisions.
"Think of the LGBT person in Bangladesh who knows that someone at the American embassy understands who she is. Think of the Iraqi soldier, learning to fight alongside Iraqis from other religious sects, who takes inspiration from America's own multi-ethnic force," she said.
Rice said without tapping into America's full range of races, religions, ethnicities, language skills, and social and economic experiences, the US is leading in a complex world with one hand tied behind its back.