A national survey last month by the Pew Research Center found that 35 percent of American voters said that Hillary Clinton would make either a good or great president, followed by Donald Trump (31 percent), Bernie Sanders (30 percent), Ted Cruz (31 percent) and Marco Rubio (25 percent).
What might Americans and the world expect from a Hillary Clinton administration?
Her 2014 book, “Hard Choices,” in effect a 600-page campaign manifesto, says American foreign policy should be reoriented towards “smart power,” by which she means choosing the best combination of diplomatic, economic, military, political, and technological tools in any situation. She seems more committed than other recent presidents to reach out to her own civil society and those of other nations to build a world, as she puts it, with “more partners and fewer adversaries.”
Because Clinton gave blow-by-blow accounts of tough discussions with Chinese officials, particularly on human rights, “Hard Choices” was blocked from sale in China. Clinton appears likely to adopt a firmer approach than Obama with Beijing—one with “buy-in from our entire government, beginning with the White House.” She is clear-eyed about the nature of “state capitalism” and other features of governance in China, Russia, and elsewhere.
