Hard Choices.

AuthorLitt, David C.
PositionBook review

Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2014, ISBN-13: 978-1476751443, 656 pp., $20.91 (Harcover), $14.99 (Kindle).

This review of Hard Choices, Hillary Clinton's memoir of her time at the Department of State, examines the book through the lens of what she chose to do about the Foreign Service and the capabilities of America's diplomacy. I bypassed the political, personal, and "electoral" aspects of her book that other reviewers have assessed. Instead, I wanted to know: What did the Secretary do during those four years to enhance the ability of her Department to carry out her vision of diplomacy and development as instruments of national power equal to that other "D," as embodied in her signature Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR)? How might she compare with other secretaries of state in decades past? If there was any "electoral" aspect to my assessment, it would be: How might we expect a President Clinton to transform the institutions of diplomacy and development to advance America's role in the world?

Mrs. Clinton has long been a strong advocate for a renewed, robust, well-resourced diplomatic service. In her introduction to the 2010 QDDR she noted:

The State Department and USAID have phenomenal employees, from health workers serving in remote villages to Foreign Service personnel posted at bustling embassies to many other staff stationed across the United States. But I quickly learned that we could do more to equip our people to do their best work, spend our resources efficiently, achieve our objectives effectively, and adapt to the demands of a changing world. Hard Choices examines chapter by chapter her experiences as Secretary of State in managing foreign policy during her tenure. The 656-page book (I chose to read the Kindle version; I can get my free-weight exercises elsewhere) discusses her perspectives on China, the Arab awakening, Iran, Afghanistan/Pakistan, Africa, Latin America, human rights, Russia, Israel-Palestine, and much more. I expected to learn how she led, shaped, managed, criticized, defended, and sought resources for the institutions under her command, namely the Department of State and the US Agency for International Development.

I was in for great disappointment. Mrs. Clinton crafts the memoir as a commander in battle, rather than as State's CEO. What unfolds is a highly operational, sometimes even tactical narrative of how she dealt with this or that issue-the "hard...

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