Clinton Vows ‘Smart Power’ Foreign Policy

Promises "Forward Thinking" Administration, Offers Little in Specifics

Moving through her relatively uneventful confirmation hearing in the Senate, incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared her intentions to embark on a foreign policy based on what she called “smart power.”

Our foreign policy has gotten way out of balance, it’s going to be up to us to try to get back into more equilibrium, which will be good for our government and for the image of our country around the world,” pledged the former First Lady.

But though she spoke of her “forward thinking” new policies, the specifics revealed little material difference from the current administration and a lot of empty rhetoric. She ruled out negotiations with Hamas, something the Obama Administration was reportedly mulling. She promised more focus on Darfur, she declared her and the President-elect’s sympathies for the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Then there was Iran, where she promised a “new, different approach” only to accuse Iran of trying to acquire nuclear weapons, promising to try sanctions to stop them, and then declaring “no option is off the table.” If Sen. Clinton speaks for the new administration, as one would assume the incoming Secretary of State does, one cannot fail to notice that their “new” approach looks remarkably similar to the approach that the president-elect chastised the outgoing Bush Administration for.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.