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Condy Delivers Master Class in Statecraft

Condoleezza Rice or Condy as she is called, is known as one of the world’s most admired women who played a critical role as the most confidante of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009. Bush appointed her as the National Security Advisor in his first term of presidency, and when Bush was re-elected for the second term, he asked Condy to be the Secretary of State.

In United States, if the President were to resign or die, the Secretary of State is fourth in line of succession after the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and the President pro tempore of the Senate. Besides this critical position, the US Secretary of State is in charge to shape and carry out the President’s foreign policy for which she had to travel around the globe even to the countries deem America is enemy.

The 9/11 terrorist attack occurred just nine months after Condy took the position as National Security Advisor and she proved that she was competent in managing crisis.

“There’re a lot of work to do under enormous pressure afterward, and any missteps could have dire consequences,” she wrote.

Condy was the first woman to serve as national security advisor and the first female African-American secretary of state.

This memoir is not only telling her political experiences during eight years of services, but also her soft feeling as a human being in any situations and countries she visited, despite her reputation as a tough and strong lady.

In chapter 26 “A Heartbreaking Place Called Darfur”, after she looked at the impact of civil war, she wrote, “I left Darfur so incredibly sad, full of regret, and deeply offended by what I had seen. How could the so-called international community tolerate that kind of misery and barbarity?”

Another “weird” story she shared was about her meeting with Moammar Qaddafi. The Libyan ruler called her as his “African Princess”. The conversation in the meeting actually was just a chit-chat and after that Qaddafi insisted Condy for dinner in his private kitchen. “At the end of dinner, Qaddafi told me that he’d made a videotape for me. Uh, oh. I thought, what is this going to be?” she wrote. Okay, this is Qaddafi, she thought.

Surprisingly, in that moment Qaddafi set a music of song called “Black Flower in the White House” written by Libyan composer.

The Israel-Palestina, India-Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korean, China, Russia, Latin America are other stories worth to read.

“As secretary of state I was always aware of the constraints of the world as it is and resolved to practice the art of the possible. But I also tried not to lose sight of the world as it could be, and insisted on a path toward the end. This is the long-term work of diplomacy. History will judge how we did. I can live with that, and I am grateful for the chance to have tried,” she closes the memoir.

***

Serpong, 6 Jan 2024

Titus J.

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