Hillary is unfit for Obama

18 August 2010 | 17:08 Code : 3251 Editorial
An interview with Ali Bigdeli, university lecturer and international affairs expert
Hillary is unfit for Obama

Hillary Clinton-Obama’s rival in US presidential election campaign- has been presented as the probable US secretary of state. This choice has raised questions which are discussed here with Dr.Ali Bigdeli, university lecturer and international affairs expert.

 

What does "Hillary Clinton as US secretary of state" imply?

Obama’e election and the impact of such a choice on US society have shown that there is a tendency to change in US state policies. To achieve this goal, the White House has come out of the aristocracy’s light and Obama has been elected. But the presentation of Hillary Clinton as the US secretary of state may be due to Obama’s tendency to preserve this American aristocracy in his political life. I believe this is not really to the advantage of the new US president. Hillary Clinton’s dependence on his aristocratic family and the eight years of his husband’s presidency have made her proud of herself. She is not a good choice for Obama because she would not obey him.

Despite of this, I believe that Hillary Clinton has enough political and military experience and she has got good command of the world but she lacks the required flexibility for US secretary of state.

Is it true that "Clinton as US secretary of state" can make use of her husband’s experiences on foreign policy issues?

In the United States, there are certain committees specialized on different foreign policy issues. Considering the fact that Bill Clinton was not an expert of foreign policy himself, one can say that the same commissions and committees on foreign policy can do the same job for Obama.  

The world today is very different from Bill Clinton’s presidency era. Nowadays, the biggest challenges of the US are Muslim regions of Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A woman is not suitable for managing such challenges. Condoleezza Rice had a degree of success and flexibility but still she faced many problems in such regions. This is the same story for Hillary Clinton. She lacks the flexibility for managing the challenges of the Middle East region and she can not really help Obama on such issues.

What would be her approach to Iran?

She has anti-Middle East mentality. Her husband was the founder of the road map for the Middle East, but anyhow she has an up to down view towards the region. This would make the Palestinian conflict more complicated. The US secretary of State should not have affiliations towards Israel. But Hillary Clinton is sensitive to Israel and its interests. At the same time, she does not have positive views towards Iran and has called for more sanctions on Iran. She would carry such attitude to the foreign ministry and as you know, the US relations with Iran during his husband’s presidency were not good at all.

One important point here is that Obama has not answered Iranian president’s letter and it seems that Obama’s team are working on it. This is a hidden diplomacy among Iran and the US. In such circumstances, Obama’s response to Iranian president’s letter can be a clue to his strategy towards Iran.