It’s a Small World After All
Secretary of State was the consolation prize, but Hillary Clinton was still delighted to get it. Her problem now is that the Obama administration is populated with big players—and some big egos—who are stealing away her turf bit by bit. Hillary may think her worldwide fame will give her leverage, but there's a two-word rebuttal: Colin Powell. Here's a rundown of who may steal Hillary's thunder—and her headlines.
Jim Jones The retired Marine general is reasserting the National Security Council's role in Washington as coordinator of all foreign-policy and national-security issues—and expanding it to include environmental and economic issues. Hillary will have a seat at the table, but not at the head of it.
Tim Geithner Since the Asian financial crisis, Treasury has taken the lead on China. And with Geithner in charge of Obama's financial plan and the markets hanging on his every word (he speaks Chinese, by the way), Hillary won't have much room to reassert State.
George Mitchell He'll work on the Israeli-Palestinian problem full time and report to Hillary—but if there's a deal, Mitchell will get most of the credit, just as he did when he negotiated peace in Northern Ireland in the '90s. Still, Hillary may not mind putting Mitchell out front here: a hard-line Israel led by Bibi Netanyahu looks likely, so no one expects much progress on peace.
Dennis Ross The longtime Mideast negotiator is widely expected to be Hillary's top adviser on one of Obama's most pressing headaches, Iran. She'll share the credit for whatever diplomatic progress is made, but Ross is renowned as a master of these issues, and whatever approach the administration follows will most likely be his handiwork.
Richard Holbrooke This heavy hitter gets the world's top trouble spots: Pakistan and Afghanistan. He's in charge of all U.S. policy here across many agencies—plus State—though technically he reports to Obama through Hillary. (He's also angling for Iran.) Still, this ace insider is smart enough to defer to his pal Hillary; he likely would've been her secretary of state.
Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.
Michael Hirsh covers international affairs for NEWSWEEK reporting on a range of topics from Homeland Security to postwar Iraq. He co-authored the November 3, 2003 cover story, "Bush's $87 Billion Mess," about the Iraq reconstruction plan. The issue was one of three that won the 2004 National Magazine Award for General Excellence.
Hirsh writes a column on Newsweek.com entitled "The World from Washington" focusing on foreign policy issues and serves as Washington Web Editor for Newsweek. He also edited NEWSWEEK's "Issues 2007" special issue, which explores all facets and issues of globalization.
Hirsh was the magazine's Foreign Editor from January 2001 to January 2002, and helped guide Newsweek's award-winning coverage of the September 11 attacks and the war on terror. Before that he was a Senior Editor/Chief Diplomatic Correspondent in the Washington bureau, writing about foreign affairs and international economics. Hirsh was also managing editor for the Newsweek International special issue "ISSUES 2001," the second in a series of three annual reviews of the global economy in the new century.
From September 1998 to December 1999, as Diplomatic Correspondent, Hirsh covered foreign policy, the State Department and the Treasury. He moved to the Washington D.C. bureau in May 1997, previously serving as a senior editor of Newsweek International, covering the same beat.
Prior to joining NEWSWEEK in October 1994 as a New York-based senior writer, Hirsh served as the Tokyo-based Asia Bureau Chief for Institutional Investor from 1992 to 1994. Previously, he was a correspondent for the Associated Press in Tokyo and a National Editor in New York.
Hirsh was co-winner of the 2002 Ed Cunningham Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's terror coverage and contributed to the team of Newsweek reporters who earned the magazine the prestigious 2002 National Magazine Award for General Excellence, also for the magazine's coverage of the war on terror. Hirsh also won a Deadline Club Award in 1997 for investigative reporting on his expose of the IRS's abusive practices, and was one of five finalists for a 1994 Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism for his article, "China's Financial Revolutionaries." It profiled the new generation of mainland Chinese businessmen who are striving to build a capitalist financial system from scratch. Hirsh is the author of the nonfiction book "At War with Ourselves" (Oxford University Press, 2003) which explores America's foreign policy and its global role.
For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.
Comments