A rock star diplomat, she crystallised her image of pragmatism
Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped down as the 69th United States Secretary of State on February 1, 2013. If someone suspects that the termination of Clinton’s term in the office was designed with a motive of backing a wrong horse, it would be a gross mistake. It has been the trend line throughout the American presidential history (be it Collin Powel in the Bush era or Warren Minor Christopher during Bill Clinton’s first term) to replace them after completion of their first term. However, ignoring political debate behind her termination, it would be interesting to see how effective she was.
In recent times, after the legacy of Madeline Albright, it was probably Hillary Clinton whose accomplishments are crystallised into an image of pragmatism and the cool glamour of America’s “rock star diplomat.” Getting down to serious business, her checklist of achievements is long. Her globetrotting capabilities that portended almost million miles of traversing did not go in waste – she engaged not only the traditional American allies but also seemingly God-forbidden countries such as Laos in the firm footing of US values. The values she advocated were not merely based on leveraging American geo-political missions but also on traditional planks like upholding human rights and human dignity. Her extension of unswerving support to Aung San Suu Kyi with the intention to stand by her struggle for democracy in Myanmar and rescuing the blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng who took refuge in US embassy are cases in point of her strategy from a high moral stand point. The human rights abuses in Libya and Syria too were dealt with iron hands by the US where her role in convincing Obama for the actions cannot be undermined. Especially in Libya, it was Clinton’s role that turned out to be the watershed in the faceoff between the rebels and the Gaddafi regime. Her pivotal role in shaping strategies to deal with the battle ground map of Russia, China and Iran – where a judicious mix of calm and aggression presaged her high quality diplomatic aptitude. Che Guancheng was given sanctuary in US without disturbing the delicate balance of US-China relationship; while on the other hand, her tough posture on Iran was instrumental in slapping harsh sanctions on them. She also attained free trade agreements with allies like Panama, Columbia and South Korea – which shows the importance she attached to economy with respect to her foreign policy moves.
However, her failures should not be overlooked. She admitted her slip in the Benghazi episode, where speaking to CNN she said, “I take responsibility” for not protecting the American diplomat’s lives. This cracked her firewall and she conceded, “I want to avoid some kind of political gotcha.” Notwithstanding, another failure of her was her helplessness to convince Mamata Banerjee on retail reforms! More importantly, the Clinton-Obama relationship was more dubious even though mutually respectful.
Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped down as the 69th United States Secretary of State on February 1, 2013. If someone suspects that the termination of Clinton’s term in the office was designed with a motive of backing a wrong horse, it would be a gross mistake. It has been the trend line throughout the American presidential history (be it Collin Powel in the Bush era or Warren Minor Christopher during Bill Clinton’s first term) to replace them after completion of their first term. However, ignoring political debate behind her termination, it would be interesting to see how effective she was.
In recent times, after the legacy of Madeline Albright, it was probably Hillary Clinton whose accomplishments are crystallised into an image of pragmatism and the cool glamour of America’s “rock star diplomat.” Getting down to serious business, her checklist of achievements is long. Her globetrotting capabilities that portended almost million miles of traversing did not go in waste – she engaged not only the traditional American allies but also seemingly God-forbidden countries such as Laos in the firm footing of US values. The values she advocated were not merely based on leveraging American geo-political missions but also on traditional planks like upholding human rights and human dignity. Her extension of unswerving support to Aung San Suu Kyi with the intention to stand by her struggle for democracy in Myanmar and rescuing the blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng who took refuge in US embassy are cases in point of her strategy from a high moral stand point. The human rights abuses in Libya and Syria too were dealt with iron hands by the US where her role in convincing Obama for the actions cannot be undermined. Especially in Libya, it was Clinton’s role that turned out to be the watershed in the faceoff between the rebels and the Gaddafi regime. Her pivotal role in shaping strategies to deal with the battle ground map of Russia, China and Iran – where a judicious mix of calm and aggression presaged her high quality diplomatic aptitude. Che Guancheng was given sanctuary in US without disturbing the delicate balance of US-China relationship; while on the other hand, her tough posture on Iran was instrumental in slapping harsh sanctions on them. She also attained free trade agreements with allies like Panama, Columbia and South Korea – which shows the importance she attached to economy with respect to her foreign policy moves.
However, her failures should not be overlooked. She admitted her slip in the Benghazi episode, where speaking to CNN she said, “I take responsibility” for not protecting the American diplomat’s lives. This cracked her firewall and she conceded, “I want to avoid some kind of political gotcha.” Notwithstanding, another failure of her was her helplessness to convince Mamata Banerjee on retail reforms! More importantly, the Clinton-Obama relationship was more dubious even though mutually respectful.
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