Reinforcing “The Personal” in Politics

Clinton: Global feminist

She’s at it again ladies and gentlemen, conquering the world one country at a time. Rather, one person at a time. Clinton recently came back to the U.S. after her Asian tour, stopping in countries like China, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea. Instead of following in the steps of past diplomats, Clinton is creating her own path of success concerning U.S. relationships with international governments. One way to win over a government: start with the people.

This strategy of cultural diplomacy that Clinton used in the last couple of weeks brings a whole new meaning to U.S. foreign policy. Finding a way to relate to the people of a state is a smart foreign policy plan—home girl obviously did her homework.

Hillary visited the University of Tokyo during this tour and not only did she speak about how the United States needs to maintain and restore its connections with the Muslim world, but she also responded to a student who asked her “how to become as strong as she is?

Human rights is an urgent global and domestic issue that needs mucho atención. While the Secretary of State is well aware of this fact, she chose to emphasize other crucial issues at hand like the future of our environment North Korea’s potential to nuke us all, and the spiraling downfall of our economy.

By doing this, Hill-dog (my personal nick-name for one of my fav ladies) sent a clear message to the rest of world along the lines of: “yeah I’m a women’s rights advocate, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to discuss other issues of importance.”

Concentrating on saving the world

It is understandable why Clinton did this, however I think it would’ve been a great opportunity to approach the topic of human rights. Who better to stress its significance than the first First Lady to serve in the Cabinet, the first First Lady to run for public office, and was even the first student to give the commencement speech at Wellesley College. Talk about kicking ass and taking names—that’s a lot of firsts.

A long time feminist issue has been about making the personal political. I’m glad Hillary is incorporating this into her role as Secretary of State because it’s such a realistic concept: almost all political issues ARE personal. I hope to see more of this from others within the Obama administration, and not just the female contenders.

–Krystie Yandoli