Clinton Seeks a 'Smart Power' Middle East Strategy

In this April 8, 2008, file photo Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Armed...

In this April 8, 2008, file photo Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, listens to testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington from Gen. David Petraeus. From the disappointment of a failed White House bid, Clinton is on the threshold of the world's stage as chief diplomat for the Democrat who defeated her. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

(AP)

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that she intends to revitalize the mission of diplomacy in American foreign policy, calling for a "smart power" strategy in the Middle East and implicitly criticizing the Bush administration for having downgraded the role of arms control.

At a daylong confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for secretary of state sailed smoothly through an array of non-contentious questions until two Republican committee members pressed her to take additional steps to ensure that former President Bill Clinton's global fundraising work does not pose even an appearance of conflict with her role as the chief U.S. diplomat. She balked, saying disclosure rules already in place were carefully crafted and adequate to avoid any conflict.

Clinton appeared headed for easy confirmation. She encountered no challenges to her basic vision for foreign policy.

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Clinton, who will relinquish her seat in the Senate when confirmed, spoke confidently of Obama's intentions to renew American leadership in the world and to strengthen U.S. diplomacy.

"America cannot solve the most pressing problems on our own, and the world cannot solve them without America," she said, her daughter Chelsea seated behind her in the audience. "The best way to advance America's interest in reducing global threats and seizing global opportunities is to design and implement global solutions. This isn't a philosophical point. This is our reality."

In laying out a general outlook for American foreign policy under Obama, Clinton spoke in a clear, unhurried voice and looked at ease. She made it plain, citing policy themes that were familiar from Obama's presidential campaign — and in many cases her own — that the incoming Democratic administration wants to elevate the role of diplomacy. She and Obama contend that the Bush administration relied too heavily on the military to carry out foreign policy and that it leaned too much on ideology and too little on pragmatism.