Hillary Clinton’s Legacy: A New Security Paradigm
Today is Hillary Clinton’s last day as Secretary of State. It’s a moment to take stock—not simply of her many accomplishments during these past four years, but also of the lasting impact of her exceptional leadership.
The airwaves this week have been dominated by pundits speculating on her legacy. But few have spotlighted Clinton’s unique contribution: the elevation of women as a powerful force for a more stable world. Like (General, then) Secretary of State George Marshall before her, she’s championed a bold new security paradigm; one that, like his, will “bear fruit in seasons to come.”
This is the case I made on UP with Chris Hayes on MSNBC this past Sunday morning, and that I’ve expanded in a piece for The Huffington Post. Hillary Clinton has ensured a systemic shift in the US government (and pushed many abroad) toward what I call “inclusive security.”
Watch the video from Up with Chris Hayes here.
Legacies are unpredictable. And certainly, with Hillary barely beginning her much-deserved R&R and newly-confirmed successor John Kerry not yet unpacked, it’s impossible to know what future historians will say about either of them. But earlier this week, President Obama signed a memorandum making permanent the position of Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues that Secretary Clinton created (and Melanne Verveer so capably filled).
Coincidence? No. Her work carries on… and will.
Read my Huffington Post piece. I welcome your thoughts.
“Marshall and Clinton: A Shared Legacy”
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