DeclinetoState
03-03-2006, 10:10 AM
There is disquiet in the US capital about how the Secretary of State is handling her job, writes Washington correspondent Geoff Elliott <HR>
March 04, 2006
SHE may be the world's most powerful woman, with an army of staff behind her, but spare a thought for US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Since taking up the post as the US top diplomat 13 months ago, replacing Colin Powell, Rice has hardly stopped travelling to and from Africa, the Middle East, Europe and north and South Asia. Yesterday she was with President George W. Bush in New Delhi, helping put the finishing touches on a landmark nuclear deal with India. That was an important moment in symbolism for the region - the world's two largest democracies united - and another sign of a shift in the geopolitical centre of the world to Asia.
But despite her tireless travel, the fact Rice has dropped Southeast Asia off the itinerary in the past 13 months has led to plenty of flak: two trips to Australia cancelled; Indonesia cancelled; a no-show for the regional forum of the Association of South East Asian Nations.
It has prompted former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage to conclude in an interview with Inquirer this week that Rice had made "tremendous errors" in snubbing the region in her first 12 months.
More from Down Under at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18338691%255E28737,00.html
March 04, 2006
SHE may be the world's most powerful woman, with an army of staff behind her, but spare a thought for US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Since taking up the post as the US top diplomat 13 months ago, replacing Colin Powell, Rice has hardly stopped travelling to and from Africa, the Middle East, Europe and north and South Asia. Yesterday she was with President George W. Bush in New Delhi, helping put the finishing touches on a landmark nuclear deal with India. That was an important moment in symbolism for the region - the world's two largest democracies united - and another sign of a shift in the geopolitical centre of the world to Asia.
But despite her tireless travel, the fact Rice has dropped Southeast Asia off the itinerary in the past 13 months has led to plenty of flak: two trips to Australia cancelled; Indonesia cancelled; a no-show for the regional forum of the Association of South East Asian Nations.
It has prompted former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage to conclude in an interview with Inquirer this week that Rice had made "tremendous errors" in snubbing the region in her first 12 months.
More from Down Under at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18338691%255E28737,00.html