Woman of the World

„For Barack Obama, the Arab Spring and its aftermath will shape just one critical piece of his record. But, for Hillary Clinton, the swirling challenges of the region are likely to determine her legacy. Many diplomats remain anxious; the world they knew has been upended. Yet they also understand that the months ahead will be Hillary’s moment to help turn those ripples into a permanent tide of reform and renewal.

But Hillary’s intense diplomatic efforts to forge a coalition to go to war in Libya came at the exact worst time, only two months after WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing Web site run by Julian Assange, began posting thousands of classified State Department cables online. Candid descriptions of foreign leaders (e.g., Putin is the »alpha dog« of a »virtual mafia state«) were published around the world and have already led to the departure of U.S. ambassadors in Mexico and Ecuador, with more fallout on the way. Hillary told staff that she could not fathom how an army private, Bradley Manning, with psychological problems and a drag-queen boyfriend could single-handedly cause the United States unprecedented embarrassment just by labeling massive downloads as Lady Gaga songs.

Several allies needed little comfort. »Don’t worry about it«, one leader told Hillary. »You should see what we say about you.« Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi wasn’t so forgiving. In 2008 the loutish media baron and billionaire had described Barack Obama as »young, handsome and bronzato (bronzed)«, but after WikiLeaks he chose to play the victim. It wasn’t clear whether he was genuinely upset about a cable describing him as »physically and politically weak« or merely projecting his anger over allegations in the Italian press about his relationship with a teenage Moroccan belly dancer suspected of prostitution. Either way, he unloaded on Hillary during an awkward one-on-one in Astana, Kazakhstan.”