The Foreign Service Journal, February 2006

rebellion that the State Department often was under Powell.” Of one thing, there can be little doubt, however: Rice works hard and she can be tough when she wants to be. She has proven her mettle by playing an active role in key diplomat- ic negotiations overseas, and congres- sional tussles in Washington. Success in both areas, of course, will not only boost her legacy but also burnish her credentials as a manager of the Foreign Service as she seeks more profound institutional changes. On the diplomatic front, she can point to several significant achievements in her first year. Last November she received accolades for working with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to conclude an agreement on Palestinian control over access to the Gaza Strip. For Rice, who has often left the hands-on work of diplomacy to others, it was an impressive showing. Few had expect- ed that a deal could be reached, and she worked through the night to hammer out the details. As the Washington Post put it last year, Rice “has demonstrated a willingness to bend on tactics to accom- modate the concerns of allies without ceding on broad principles, what she calls ‘practical idealism.’ She also conducts a more aggressive personal diplomacy, breaking State Department records for foreign travel and setting up diplomatic tag teams with top staff on urgent issues.” While that approach can leave diplomats working in lower-profile areas feeling out of the loop and unappreci- ated, there is no denying that she has put her own stamp on U.S. diplomacy. Take her approach to the remaining members of the “axis of evil,” North Korea and Iran. Rice convinced the government of Kim Jong Il to come back to the negotiat- ing table and discuss his nuclear program by publicly describing Kim’s government as “sovereign.” She then authorized a key aide to meet several times with North Korean diplomats, well above the level of contact her predecessor was allowed to pursue with Pyongyang dur- ing Bush’s first term. She has also worked to strike a deal with Iran, offering to permit it to apply for membership in the World Trade Organization and buy spare parts for aging passenger air- craft in return for renouncing its nuclear ambitions. At the same time, she’s pushed European allies to back Security Council intervention if the negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear pro- gram don’t succeed. Powell, by con- trast, failed to get the White House to exclude Iran from its list of three coun- tries in the “axis of evil” or even to sup- port talks on the nuclear issue. Last spring, Rice canceled a visit to Egypt when the Mubarak government detained prominent opposition figure Ayman Nour, a move that paved the way for him to run in the September presidential election. However, following his defeat, he was again arrested and in December was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on what many observers have denounced as trumped-up charges of forgery. In sharp contrast with its earlier signal of disapproval, the U.S. has not yet taken any public steps to secure Nour’s release other than issuing a statement questioning the fairness of the trial. Elsewhere in the region, Rice has called on Saudi Arabia to allow women the vote and has sought to dis- suade Israel from more settlement-building. In India, she boosted relations by promising to try to convince Congress to allow the Bush administration to sell nuclear technology to India for civilian uses. And she has worked with the United Nations to investigate war crimes in Darfur while also pursuing closer cooperation with Khartoum against terrorism. Initial Success on the Hill On Capitol Hill, Rice got off to a fast start, winning praise as she made the rounds of various congressional committees in January 2005. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., said her suc- cess was “really an incredible development for our coun- try.” His Senate counterpart Thad Cochran, R-Miss., offered similar praise: “You’re off to a great start. You reflect credit on our country and every individual citizen in the United States,” he says. Even Democrats were quick to offer praise. Rep. Tom Lantos of California said Congress was “proud to have you [as] the face of America to the rest of the world.” During her confirmation hearings before the Senate F O C U S F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 19 Some FSOs see parallels between Rice and James Baker, Secretary of State during the George H.W. Bush administration.