The listening legacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton
The greatest challenge of our time, said Madeleine Albright last week to a group of Massachusetts students, 鈥渋s between the people who are willing to listen and those who believe they know it all.鈥�
As the first female United States secretary of State (1997 to 2001), Ms. Albright set a precedent for the United States in the art of listening more and asserting its interests less in foreign affairs. She was a model for two women who later ran the State Department, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
As Secretary Clinton now leaves office after four years as America鈥檚 top diplomat, she, too, is telling others 鈥� such as in a 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� interview with President Obama 鈥� that diplomatic style matters as much as substance for the world鈥檚 most powerful country.
Take, for example, her advice to US lawmakers last week on how the US should act in North Africa to repel Al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants: 鈥淲e have to approach it with humility.鈥�
The US military alone can鈥檛 stabilize a terrorist-torn nation like Mali, the center of current fighting in North Africa. The Pentagon鈥檚 previous training of Mali鈥檚 Army only led to a coup against an elected leader, sparking the kind of chaos on which Islamists thrive. Instead, as Clinton advised, the US must learn from the examples of Somalia and Colombia, where the US helped deploy a balance of its assets 鈥� diplomacy, development, and defense, or the 鈥�3 D鈥檚鈥� 鈥� to quell insurgencies in those countries.
Clinton refers to this security strategy as 鈥渟mart power,鈥� but its main tactic is to hold back force in reserve in favor of connecting first to other nations through personal ties and building coalitions. A good part of her legacy also lies in building closer ties between the State Department and the Pentagon and in expanding the US diplomatic corps.
鈥淣obody can match us in military assets and prowess,鈥� she told Congress last week, 鈥渂ut a lot of the challenges we face are not immediately 鈥� or sustainably 鈥� solved by military action alone.鈥�
Her favorite approach, as seen during official visits to 112 countries, was to listen to private citizens, mainly women, young people, and leaders of 鈥渃ivil society鈥� groups. This listening style allowed her to take the pulse of a country but also plant seeds of goodwill and expand shared values. If she doesn鈥檛 run for president in 2016, this 鈥渟oft power鈥� activism may be her next calling.
She leaves State having enhanced an office devoted to women鈥檚 rights and created one dedicated to young people. With Mr. Obama in office for four more years, this style of outreach will likely continue under the incoming secretary of State, Sen. John F. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat.
By talking directly to women in countries with mass poverty and conflict, Clinton elevated their status in the economy and as leaders. 鈥淧eople are beginning to see that empowering women leads to economic development. That you don鈥檛 espouse women鈥檚 rights because it鈥檚 a virtuous thing to do but because it leads to economic growth,鈥� she said.
Women are also usually the people most affected by war, and thus often the ones who must be on the front lines of negotiating for peace. Clinton鈥檚 global 鈥渓istening鈥� tours may have left lasting contrails of peacemaking that won鈥檛 be seen for decades.
Perhaps the measure of future secretaries of State should no longer be the policy 鈥渄octrine鈥� they leave behind but the quality of bonds created with other peoples.
