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As Ben Smith reports, in advance of the secretary of state's major, agenda-setting address yesterday, Hillary Clinton's aides pushed the phrase "muscular" to describe her approach. Smith writes:
But the early spin gave, at best, a very partial and misleading sense of what Clinton actually said yesterday. The most "muscular" portions were the carefully-drafted signals to Iran and Saudi Arabia, which represent the White House's formal stance, not Clinton's personal vision. The more personal elements of the speech -- the ones that actually carry some meaning for her stature and role as Secretary of State -- were in the realm of what used to be called "soft power," and is now called "smart power."Indeed, Clinton led the speech with a joke about the importance of the United States "multi-tasking" on the international stage -- "a very gender-related term," she said. Her agenda -- from focusing on expanding women's economic opportunities in the developing world, to beefing up civilian diplomacy in Afganistan and Iraq -- is less hawkish than liberal internationalist. That's why she chose to emphasize global interconnectedness over a more traditional focus on American interests:
And all that I have done and seen has convinced me that our foreign policy must produce results for people – the laid-off auto worker in Detroit whose future will depend on global economic recovery; the farmer or small business owner in the developing world whose lack of opportunity can drive political instability and economic stagnation; the families whose loved ones are risking their lives for our country in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere; children in every land who deserve a brighter future. These are the people – hundreds of millions of them here in America and billions around the world – whose lives and experiences, hopes and dreams, must inform the decisions we take and the actions that follow.For more on Hillary Clinton's feminist agenda at the State Department, read Michelle Goldberg's feature from our July/August issue.--Dana Goldstein
