海角大神

One of my friends is a classic Republican: He鈥檚 a businessman from a Southern 鈥渞ed state,鈥� and a Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam who earned a Silver Star for heroism at Hu茅. To put it mildly, he鈥檚 never been a fan of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Yet he recently called to acknowledge a conversion like Paul鈥檚 on the road to Damascus. He now kind of likes her.

鈥淪he鈥檚 out there doing things 鈥� she鈥檚 smarter than Bill. If she was [messing] up, the far right would be all over her and they鈥檙e not coming up with anything.鈥�

He鈥檚 got a point. Hillary Clinton, the once-hated first lady, appears to have hit her stride as secretary of State. The right wing, even 鈥渢alk radio,鈥� deems her the 鈥済ood鈥� member of the Obama team.

The right-wing Republican mantra goes something like this: 鈥淚f only the president were more like her. She鈥檚 pushing him on Iran, pushing for more troops in Afghanistan. He鈥檚 wobbly. She鈥檚 the iron fist in the velvet glove.鈥�

The right is right that Clinton is tough on Iran, but it鈥檚 wrong to think that there鈥檚 much daylight between her and the president.

Clinton has been intolerant of Tehran鈥檚 dissimulation. As the administration 鈥渉ammer,鈥� her message is steely: First, Iran must live up to its nuclear nonproliferation treaty obligations or it will find itself globally isolated. Second, if Tehran builds nuclear weapons, it will ignite a nuclear arms race in the Sunni Arab world with more than a few of the Sunni nukes likely to be pointed at Shiite Iran, a historic rival.

鈥淏oth the president and his secretary knew there was a good chance Obama鈥檚 initial outreach to Iran would fail,鈥� says a Clinton aide who sat down with me recently for an interview on condition that he not be named. But it was part of a
long-term calculation.

As the aide explained: 鈥淔ailure would set us up to pursue the 鈥榩ressure track鈥� more effectively 鈥� if Iran didn鈥檛 respond affirmatively [on its nuclear program], then you can bring the hammer down on them with an international consensus you could not otherwise have created.鈥�

Indeed, on May 18, a day after Brazil and Turkey announced a nuclear fuel deal with Iran, Clinton said she had secured the support of Russia and China for 鈥渟trong鈥� new sanctions against Iran.

Clinton may appear to have been born a diplomatic pro, but at least some of her exemplary patience, discipline, and professionalism were probably forged on the anvil of some bruising blows during the eight years of her husband鈥檚 presidency.

Her battle-tested political savvy may be one reason today鈥檚 national security establishment 鈥� the State Department, the Pentagon, and the National Security Council 鈥� has shown less backstabbing, bureaucratic rivalry, or policy contradictions than I鈥檝e seen in 45 years of watching Washington.

In the Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and second Bush administrations, infighting between State and the Pentagon, and the National Security Council and State, was at times poisonous.

Today, there seems to be less clamoring for celebrity status amid an overpowering realization the president is the celebrity.

Sure, there is some difference in tone between this White House and Foggy Bottom, but totally similar views between the commander in chief and the secretary of State would smack of redundancy or lack of imagination. Where all people think alike, no one thinks very much.

The Clinton aide says it was Obama who set the harmonious tone for his national security team, insisting he wanted a team without internal rivalries. That鈥檚 a welcome change from the contentious relations between President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Secretary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates reportedly 鈥渟ee the world through the same glasses.鈥� Each has a huge number of items on their plate, so there is no time for argument over the grand ideological disputes 鈥� the kind that hobbled previous administrations.

On the face of it, Obama鈥檚 team is an odd mix: Defense Secretary Gates is a former CIA director; National Security Adviser James Jones Jr. is a highly decorated retired US Marine Corps four-star general. And Clinton is a Midwestern lawyer turned first lady turned New York Senator.

Clinton鈥檚 experience as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee no doubt helps the chemistry. As a member of that committee she became quite close to senior military officials. 鈥淪he also came to understand the workings of the military and the way it fits into the broader national security fabric,鈥� says the aide.

Is she in the same league as James Baker, the most recent 鈥済reat鈥� secretary of State? Not yet, perhaps. But then the simpler bipolar world that Mr. Baker had to manage no longer exists. We no longer live even in a multipolar world. As Clinton put it recently, we now belong to a 鈥渕ultipartner world.鈥� Still, she notes, there is no major global problem that can be solved without US involvement.

Ironically Clinton鈥檚 greatest diplomatic challenge now may be convincing Israel, an American ally, that Obama is no less a friend of the Jewish State than was her husband. It is not proving easy.

Walter Rodgers, a former senior international correspondent for CNN, writes a biweekly column.