Is Condi 'Brilliant'? Posted by Shadi Hamid

Zathras called me out on my post yesterday for (mis)characterizing Condi as “brilliant.” I don’t know – I think that the Right has set the bar so low that I find myself impressed by even the most cursory displays of intelligence from conservatives. In a similar incident, I remember I got some flak after I called Bush administration appointee Michael Doran “a truly brilliant scholar” on a left-leaning listserv. I also called his 2002 Foreign Affairs article “Somebody’s Else’s Civil War” “one of the most incisive, original pieces I had seen post-9/11.” I do stand by that.

Back to Condi. I kind of like her. I think her foreign policy instincts are not as bad as they could otherwise be. Let me put it this way: if I had to choose between Baker/Scrowcroft or Condi, it would be a no-brainer. I think her “constructive instability” fetish is actually a good thing - and could have borne fruit if it wasn’t for the utter incompetence and lack of resolve of the Bush administration on Middle East democracy promotion. Unlike nearly everyone else in the administration, she actually seems to genuinely believe all the overwrought democracy talk. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for soaring, Wilsonian rhetoric.

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[SoldierOutOfIraq]

I've noticed that many of the redmeats in either party rarely would be considered "brilliant" themselves. How much do those who criticize Rice actually know about foreign policy? Force projection?

One of the nice things about the Internet is the medium's ability to give everyone a voice.

One of the miserable things about the Internet is the medium's ability to give everyone a voice.

Not everyone is a foreign policy savant, but they can play one by merely clacking away on the typepad.

I'm always amazed by all the military geniuses one finds populating these boards. So many experts with not a day of service in the ranks, or any real study at the sorts of post-grad schools that teach these things.

Although I was never a provost at Stanford or a member of the National Security Council, I will concede that Condi Rice is a bright, indeed perhaps "brilliant," woman. I have no competence to judge this, but I do have a typepad!

[ilan45]

How could you possibly choose Condi over Baker and Scrowcroft?

Baker and Scrowcroft helped smoothly manage both the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany. They also were key players in the conduct of Desert Storm, which we can all agree went just a little better than OIF.

She on the other hand has presided over one of the worst disasters in the history of American foreign policy.

Even if you are closer to Condi on a theoretical basis, the choice is still a poor one. It's a bit like choosing the Raiders over the Colts because they look better in training camp.

[HeatherH]

I'm with Shadi on brilliance -- the word implies sheer power of intellect, not necessarily executing ability, much less deep commitment to self-questioning -- but with Ilan on the idea that knowing your limits and sticking to them gets better results than going beyond your limits and then not being able to follow up -- see the '06 Detroit Tigers. That kind of brilliance also has the profound disadvantage of putting in disrepute the very ideas that made you "brilliant" in the first place, as this Administration of brilliant people has done to democracy promotion, the universality of human rights, and the notion that the US has something special to offer the world.

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