Article on Sec. Kerry in National Journal

[MBS]

3. "It is not likely that either Powers or Rice likely could have negotiated that deal with Russia."

Last edited Sat Oct 12, 2013, 06:58 AM - Edit history (1)

Yes, indeed! . . as in "not in a million years".
Whatever Susan Rice's skills may be in foreign POLICY (I grant that she is knowledgeable and smart), her skills at DIPLOMACY seem to me close to zero. I shudder to think how all these delicate negotiations on a string of volatile and unexpected issues (Syria, Russia, subbing for the president in Asia) would have gone had Rice been SoS instead. White House NSA advisor seems to be a much better place for her than any position that has anything to do with public interpersonal relations.

And SoS does seem to be THE exactly right position for JK. Sec. Kerry is proving himself (in spades!) to be a superb diplomat in the highest and best sense, bringing to his job not only depth of understanding of policy, but also a supple and nuanced understanding of the often delicate cultural and personal context specific to each conflict, skills at mediation and negotiation, and firmness combined with graciousness.

Plus he and Lavrov seem to have a genuinely good working relationship.

Keep up the great work,Sec. Kerry.

FYI, I didn't think that this article was all that complimentary to Clinton. The comparisons mostly seemed to me to highlight Kerry's skills and achievements. But, maybe I didn't read it carefully enough: after this 10 days-and-counting of the Shutdown, I was grateful to read anything that was even remotely positive , so that's what I focused on.