Hillary Clinton the Tough

Hillary Clinton is carefully preparing her candidacy for the Democratic Party’s nomination in the 2016 presidential election. Her departure from government after Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election, this year’s publication of her memoirs as secretary of state, her vague statements regarding her presidential aspirations — all these clues make one believe that she will announce her candidacy within the next several months.

In order to give herself the best chance of winning the nomination, Hillary Clinton must show that she is no longer dependent on anyone. Over the last several years, she has stepped out of the shadow of the other Clinton, husband Bill, who is larger than life and remains extremely popular. Hillary has her own fan club in the United States, and she has become a true star on the international scene. Now she has decided to distance herself from Barack Obama, at least on certain foreign policy issues.

In a long interview with The Atlantic, the former secretary of state gave her views on questions of the Middle East — Israel, the Arab world, Iran — and the use of force in order to influence global affairs. One aspect of the interview captured the attention of the media, especially conservative commentators, and it involves the overly cautious approach of the president when it comes time for military intervention abroad.

Syria is the example cited by Hillary Clinton. She figures that Obama’s refusal to support the Syrian opposition in its fight against the current regime opened the way for the emergence of the Islamic State, which currently threatens Iraq’s national security, even if this country has not been truly stable since the 2003 invasion.

According to Clinton, this attitude towards the Syrian question comes from Obama’s stated principal that a great nation must “avoid doing stupid things.” Clinton thinks, rather, that “Great nations need organizing principles — and ‘don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing principle.”

Hillary Clinton is mistaken. Contrary to what she claims, not doing stupid things is an organizing principle of diplomacy, as she might have learned by referencing classic examples on this subject, such as Bismarck and Kissinger, among others. And it is not because stupid things were done in the past that a great nation is doomed to repeat them. Take the Iraq War, for example, which Clinton admits was “really stupid” despite being a strong supporter at the time.

If Hillary Clinton’s words shocked Obama supporters and delighted the warmongers in the Republican Party, they do not do justice to the whole of the ideas expressed in this interview, so it is worth the effort to read the entire transcript. The former secretary of state is much more in line with her former boss than this polemic makes one believe. Her opinions on Islam and democracy in the Arab world have the merit of distinguishing between radical jihad and those Islamic parties that are anxious to participate in the political life of their countries.

So why did she make this little dig at the president’s policy? Presumably, Clinton wants to show that she can be a tough guy and that, once in the White House, she will be up to facing the dangers of the world. This is a totally legitimate stance. However we must hope that in that moment, she will not do anything stupid.