Clinton, who was taking a shot at Obama's predecessor George W. Bush, told State Department staff that the foreign service bureaucracy needs reform because the "stakes are too high" and demands are now so great.

"We've seen in the last six months that the United States and particularly our new president is really expected to deliver a lot," Clinton said as the new administration approached its half-year mark in office.

"It may not be fair, but that's kind of the way it is," the chief US diplomat added.

"In some of the meetings that I've had in my travels around the world, foreign governments and foreign leaders have made very aggressive demands on our country.

"And on at least one occasion, I've said, 'You know, you didn't make those demands the last eight years.' They said, 'Well, we knew we would never get a response,'" Clinton said, triggering laughter.

"So a lot is expected of us," said Clinton who has echoed Obama's emphasis on the need to listen to the concerns of other countries.

The chief US diplomat spoke of an "unprecedented set of challenges" as the Obama administration carries out its foreign policy agenda.

"We are repairing strained alliances. We're cultivating new partnerships. We're working to engage and change the behavior of adversaries. And we are prioritizing development, along with diplomacy, as part of our global agenda," she said.

"We're working to build a world of economic stability and prosperity, clean and affordable energy, health care, housing and education for our children; an expansion of fundamental rights; tackling the threats of global extremism, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."

She said the State Department and the US Agency for International Development "have the capacity for change" and announced a new review process carried out every four years to establish priorities.

Among other changes she talked about was spending money for more State Department staff to have portable computers and allow them to respond outside of office hours to requests from a different time zone overseas.

Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium