Ask the blogger

I’ll be doing a Washington Post "live chat" this morning at 11 a.m. to discuss my article in Sunday’s paper about Hillary Clinton’s "quiet revolution" as U.S. secretary of state. You can submit your questions here. My take: Amid all the distractions, what is Clinton actually doing? Only overseeing what may be the most profound ...

I'll be doing a Washington Post "live chat" this morning at 11 a.m. to discuss my article in Sunday's paper about Hillary Clinton's "quiet revolution" as U.S. secretary of state. You can submit your questions here.

I’ll be doing a Washington Post "live chat" this morning at 11 a.m. to discuss my article in Sunday’s paper about Hillary Clinton’s "quiet revolution" as U.S. secretary of state. You can submit your questions here.

My take:

Amid all the distractions, what is Clinton actually doing? Only overseeing what may be the most profound changes in U.S. foreign policy in two decades — a transformation that may render the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush mere side notes in a long transition to a meaningful post-Cold War worldview.

The secretary has quietly begun rethinking the very nature of diplomacy and translating that vision into a revitalized State Department, one that approaches U.S. allies and rivals in ways that challenge long-held traditions. And despite the pessimists who invoked the "team of rivals" cliche to predict that President Obama and Clinton would not get along, Hillary has defined a role for herself in the Obamaverse: often bad cop to his good cop, spine stiffener when it comes to tough adversaries and nurturer of new strategies. Recognizing that the 3 a.m. phone calls are going to the White House, she is instead tackling the tough questions that, since the end of the Cold War, have kept America’s leaders awake all night.

Fire away.

David Rothkopf is visiting professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His latest book is The Great Questions of Tomorrow. He has been a longtime contributor to Foreign Policy and was CEO and editor of the FP Group from 2012 to May 2017. Twitter: @djrothkopf

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