Games of State

President Bush just introduced Condoleeza Rice as the new Secretary of State.
One question: Rice�s former deputy Stephen Hadley is taking over as the new National Security Advisor. Since one of the main jobs of that position is to coordinate between the often-contentious State and Defense Departments, won�t it be hard for Hadley to take sides against his former boss? While the conventional wisdom is that Rice replacing Powell will move the Bush Administration�s foreign policy to the right, I�m wondering if the interaction between Bush, Rice and Hadley will move the balance of power in Washington towards Foggy Bottom. Which may actually be a good thing, assuming � and it is a big assumption – that that Department has the President�s best interests in mind.
On the other hand, Rumsfeld might increasingly run rings around those two less experienced figures. We shall see.
More thoughts on all of this here, here and here.

2 thoughts on “Games of State”

  1. Since one of the main jobs of that position is to coordinate between the often-contentious State and Defense Departments, won�t it be hard for Hadley to take sides against his former boss?
    Nope. That’s no longer his (or her) job. Entirely internal promotions of candidates with no other qualifications beyond their loyalty indicates these people will always be on the same page. Bush just continues to narrow the field of opinion and voices he will hear to the ones who either agree with him or tell him hat he wants to hear.

  2. That�s one view.
    Another is that Hadley and, especially, Rice are qualified and the fact that they are less likely to regularly and anonymously run off to The New York Times is an important added bonus.
    In terms of having �no other qualifications� – personally, I wish I had as deficient a resume as Rice.

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