This is the first post in a series this week to highlight Secretary Clinton’s visit Secretary Clinton’s agenda this week will mark a historical moment: visiting Vientiane, Laos. 57 years later, it’s the first for a U.S. Secretary of State since John Foster Dulles in1955. In the realm of foreign affairs, not only is it progress in renewing U.S.-Laos relations and shifting the world’s focus towards a forgotten developing country in the midst of scrambling to meet its UN Millennium Development Goals, but it’s time to surface awareness on one of the biggest human rights issues in Laos: the UXO crisis (unexploded ordinance). While Secretary Cilnton will be in Laos to discuss ASEAN efforts and the Lower Mekong Initiative; any discussion surrounding sustainable development goals should also include UXO clearance, especially if any major socio-economic improvements in Laos are to continue. The UXO issue is a legacy that was left out of U.S.history books and one that most Americans and many Lao Americans are unaware of. During the Vietnam War era from 1964 to 1973, …