Condoleezza Rice has been transformed by Bush from a foreign policy "realist" to a supporter of Bush's belief in the power of freedom and democracy.
From The Washington Post:
In a private meeting at Camp David on the morning of Friday, Nov. 6, [2004,] the president made his pitch: Colin Powell was out as secretary of state -- though Bush hadn't told him yet -- and the president wanted Rice to take the job.
During Bush's second term, Rice has struggled to guide U.S. foreign policy in a time of turmoil and war. As national security adviser [during Bush's first term], Rice was directly involved in the invasion of Iraq, missed opportunities with Iran and North Korea's nuclear breakout. Now she must loosen the Gordian knots she helped tie.
In this effort, . . . Rice has been transformed by the president she so devotedly serves -- from a hardheaded foreign policy "realist" to a wholehearted supporter of Bush's belief in the power of freedom and democracy.
Rice had a long history as a foreign policy "realist" -- believing that a balance of power among leading states would help ensure stability. As a young academic, she had even disapproved of President Ronald Reagan's moralistic approach to the Soviet Union. In the administration of Bush's father, when Rice was a midlevel staffer for national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, working on German reunification issues, she consistently appeared pragmatic and non-ideological.
A traditional realist would not seek to bring democracy to autocratic allies, instead dealing with regimes as they are. But in the current administration, few officials have appeared to be more fervent believers in the president's message of spreading democracy in the Middle East than Rice, who echoes that message in public and in private.
In May 2005, as Rice departed Baghdad after her first trip to Iraq as secretary, she reflected on all she had seen in Iraq: great rivers, fertile fields, monuments with their sense of history. The nation had oil, water, an educated public. On an impulse, she called Bush.
"Mr. President, this is going to be a great country," she told him.
Longtime Middle East experts in the State Department thought that blind faith in the power of democracy and elections was foolish, and that the only winners would be Islamic extremists.
When Rice met with Saudi journalists in 2005, after delivering a speech in Cairo promoting Middle East democracy, she expressed hope that extremist parties wouldn't do well because voters would care less about jihad than about the practical aspects of governing.
Her prediction proved wrong. In the two most liberal societies in the Middle East -- the Palestinian territories and Lebanon -- militia groups were voted into power: Hamas in the Palestinian territories, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Rice had shrugged off Israeli warnings about letting Hamas compete in elections without giving up its arms, and she had struggled to contain last summer's devastating war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. These results, diplomats said, would shape the perception of the United States in the region during Rice's tenure: on the defensive, its influence waning.
"These are scary times we live in," a senior Rice aide said last year. "Nothing's working. We can blame Iran, we can blame North Korea, and we can blame Hezbollah. You can blame them all because they are all terrible people. But at some point you have to ask yourself, are you going about this right?"
In a private meeting at Camp David on the morning of Friday, Nov. 6, [2004,] the president made his pitch: Colin Powell was out as secretary of state -- though Bush hadn't told him yet -- and the president wanted Rice to take the job.
During Bush's second term, Rice has struggled to guide U.S. foreign policy in a time of turmoil and war. As national security adviser [during Bush's first term], Rice was directly involved in the invasion of Iraq, missed opportunities with Iran and North Korea's nuclear breakout. Now she must loosen the Gordian knots she helped tie.
In this effort, . . . Rice has been transformed by the president she so devotedly serves -- from a hardheaded foreign policy "realist" to a wholehearted supporter of Bush's belief in the power of freedom and democracy.
Rice had a long history as a foreign policy "realist" -- believing that a balance of power among leading states would help ensure stability. As a young academic, she had even disapproved of President Ronald Reagan's moralistic approach to the Soviet Union. In the administration of Bush's father, when Rice was a midlevel staffer for national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, working on German reunification issues, she consistently appeared pragmatic and non-ideological.
A traditional realist would not seek to bring democracy to autocratic allies, instead dealing with regimes as they are. But in the current administration, few officials have appeared to be more fervent believers in the president's message of spreading democracy in the Middle East than Rice, who echoes that message in public and in private.
In May 2005, as Rice departed Baghdad after her first trip to Iraq as secretary, she reflected on all she had seen in Iraq: great rivers, fertile fields, monuments with their sense of history. The nation had oil, water, an educated public. On an impulse, she called Bush.
"Mr. President, this is going to be a great country," she told him.
Longtime Middle East experts in the State Department thought that blind faith in the power of democracy and elections was foolish, and that the only winners would be Islamic extremists.
When Rice met with Saudi journalists in 2005, after delivering a speech in Cairo promoting Middle East democracy, she expressed hope that extremist parties wouldn't do well because voters would care less about jihad than about the practical aspects of governing.
Her prediction proved wrong. In the two most liberal societies in the Middle East -- the Palestinian territories and Lebanon -- militia groups were voted into power: Hamas in the Palestinian territories, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Rice had shrugged off Israeli warnings about letting Hamas compete in elections without giving up its arms, and she had struggled to contain last summer's devastating war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. These results, diplomats said, would shape the perception of the United States in the region during Rice's tenure: on the defensive, its influence waning.
"These are scary times we live in," a senior Rice aide said last year. "Nothing's working. We can blame Iran, we can blame North Korea, and we can blame Hezbollah. You can blame them all because they are all terrible people. But at some point you have to ask yourself, are you going about this right?"
posted by Sid Cottingham | 9:44 AM
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