【英语生活】走近希拉里（下）

But maybe, I think, the US has less scope for grand strategy than it did in the past couple of decades, when the country seemed to bestride the world colossus-style. Clinton herself suggests that so formidable are the tasks confronting the US that the administration has little scope to enter into internecine fights but needs instead to focus on the challenges to hand. Whatever the reason for her stance, it seems to be a smart decision – by all accounts she's overcome many of the suspicions the White House retinue had towards her.

“It's fair to say that she was not born into the administration's inner circle but slowly but surely, for the most consequential decisions, she now has a prime seat at the table,” says one official. Praising what he calls her “Terminator-quality durability and determination,” he adds: “She's done an amazing amount of work, judging that the way to build a strategic vision is bottom up, by mastering the details.”

Indeed, Clinton's ability to master the most arcane foreign policy briefs is the marvel of her building. She has dropped into obscure working groups and shown an unnerving knowledge of their details. At her confirmation hearings last year she exchanged facts about the arctic with an Alaskan senator; at the meeting in S?o Paulo she becomes enthused about freight transport policy both in Brazil and the US. She herself acknowledges that finding her feet on foreign policy was something of a struggle, despite her campaign claims of expertise in the field. “It was so intellectually challenging, just to get our arms around all of these issues,” she says. During her first year, she was criticised for apparent gaffes – including the way she called for Israel to halt all building of settlements on occupied territory only to hail a partial freeze a few months later as unprecedented. On an election campaign, she says, “you may be in a different city four times a day but you have a message you're trying to deliver that is repetitive and aimed at your audience. But here you might deal with 10 different countries' problems, six different regional or global challenges in the course of a day.”

As the Latin America tour shows, she is now trying to do both – travel incessantly and solve an array of international issues. She is at the forefront of the US's efforts to consolidate relations with a number of important countries – predominantly Russia and China, but also rising powers such as Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia and South Africa – and to cool down anti-American feeling in hotspots, notably Pakistan. She says the push is working, hailing a “change in public opinion in places that were pretty negative about the US” – a reference to Russia and Pakistan. But it is far from smooth sailing. Differences about Iran and over Israel's raid on aid-bearing ships off Gaza have stoked tensions with Turkey and Brazil recently, amid questioning of the effectiveness of the Obama administration's policies.

During my time with her on the road, the stop in Brazil is the focal point – not surprising given the country's increased profile as Latin America leader. Clinton is now heading the administration's push to secure sanctions on Iran, and in Brasilia she tries and fails to win President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to her cause. She employs an almost combative tone at a press conference with Celso Amorim, Brazil's foreign minister. At moments she appears to barely contain her irritation, as she denounces “an Iran that runs to Brazil” as well as other countries such as Turkey and China “telling different things to different people to avoid international sanctions”. Amorim is spiky in his own way – drawing parallels to the 1990s sanctions on Iraq and the claims about weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 war. “Of course, I don't agree with everything the Secretary said,” he says.

It is not a happy experience - indeed this past week both Brazil and Turkey voted against sanctions at the United Nations - yet Hillary Clinton is nowhere near giving up. Years ago, one of Bill Clinton's biographers described his approach to government as a “permanent campaign”, and it appears to be his wife's preferred form of existence as well. If there is one constant in Clinton's life, it is that she never throws in her cards, whether what motivates her is power or public service.

“Never, never!” she exclaims, when I ask whether she ever thought of walking off into the wings after the frustrations and indignities of her time at the White House. “I have a very realistic sense of what high-stakes politics requires and it took me a while to get there because it's shocking when you are in the arena … but once you figure it out, you can take it seriously for purposes of analysis and understanding, but you can't take it personally.” Such treatment seems to rankle all the same. She's been listening to coverage ahead of the British debate and is plainly irritated by the coverage of the leaders' wives. “Whether a woman's running for office or she's supporting her husband who's running for office and she gets criticised for wearing open-toed shoes or for the colour of her coat, there's just a lot of history that you bear if you are a woman who puts herself out in the political arena,” she says.

. . .

Injustice towards women appears to be the issue that most enthuses Clinton in this job – as in her many other incarnations in American public life, whether as First Lady or before. “I feel passionately it is in not just the American national security interests but the world's, that women be given the opportunities and the tools to make the most out of their own lives,” she says.

In the 1990s she steered clear of reading the newspapers because of the way she was treated. Today, she says, “I certainly don't read coverage of me, I read what else is going on that I need to know about to do my job.” “It's all baloney,” says Philippe Reines, her press adviser, who set up the meeting with her and is sitting to one side in her office.

“Yeah, yeah, right, that's what he tells me,” Clinton responds.

I wonder. She may not read the stories about her, but she has boosted her domestic profile still further by talking to American magazines such as Esquire, Vogue and Parade. To what end? Clinton has said she will only serve one four-year term as secretary of state – understandable, given the grind of the job. When I ask whether she expects a woman president in the next decade or so, she responds: “I'd love that, obviously I would love that. I want to be front and centre when it happens.”

“Any chance it would be you?” I ask.

“No, no, I don't think that's in the cards,” Clinton says. She's given more categoric denials in the past. “I think that there's a whole generation of young women and not so young, but mature, seasoned women who are earning their stripes and recognising how tough it is out there. It is not for the faint of heart to run for president, and I believe it is harder for women, it just is, and that's just a fact.” But, says one US official, “all the profiles and all this media treatment undercut the argument that she is finished with electoral politics. Why do all this stuff? She's already Hillary Clinton. You have to ask: ‘What's the idea behind raising her domestic profile still further?'”

Indeed she is now, by some counts, the most popular politician in America and some in Washington say she could be a good fit for the vice-presidential slot in the 2012 elections.

Back in S?o Paulo, once the town hall meeting is over, Clinton faces a seven-hour flight to Costa Rica. The journey goes on and on, and as saleswoman-in-chief for the US in an unruly world, she faces a long, hard road. Today the US sometimes struggles to assert itself on the world stage. But the obstacles are rather fewer if the product she is pitching is herself. A secretary of state like none before her, Hillary Clinton, long one of the most formidable figures in US politics, is looking stronger than ever.

Daniel Dombey is the FT's US diplomatic correspondent

但我认为，或许美国现在实施其宏伟战略的空间要小于此前二十年，那时这个国家犹如巨人般支配着世界。希拉里本人暗示，美国面临的任务如此艰巨，以至于奥巴马政府没有内讧的空间，而需要集中精力应对手头的挑战。不管她的姿态是出于什么原因，这似乎是一个聪明的决定——各方公认，她化解了奥巴马核心圈子成员对她曾经抱有的诸多怀疑。

从圈外到圈内

“公平地说，她刚开始并不在奥巴马政府核心圈子内，但经过一段缓慢而稳步的过程，如今她在多数重要决策上有了举足轻重的发言权，”一位官员说。他赞扬希拉里“犹如‘终结者'般顽强和坚定，”并补充说：“她完成的工作量之大十分惊人，她认为，构建战略眼光应该采取自下而上的方式，熟谙相关细节。”

的确，希拉里掌握最晦涩外交政策简报内容的能力，是国务院大楼里的一大奇迹。她曾经深入默默无闻的工作小组，还展示出对这些小组的工作细节有着令人敬畏的了解。在去年确认其任命的听证会上，她与来自阿拉斯加的参议员交流了有关北极地区的事实；在圣保罗的会议期间，她对巴西和美国的货运政策展现出热情。她承认，适应外交政策方面的工作有一定难度，尽管她在竞选中宣称自己具备这方面的专长。“仅仅是要好好理解所有这些问题，也非常伤脑筋，”她表示。在她就职后第一年，她曾因几次明显的失言而招致批评，包括呼吁以色列停止在被占领领土上兴建定居点的一切行动，但几个月后又称赞以方的部分冻结为空前之举。她曾在一次竞选活动中说，“你可能每天会到4个不同的城市，但你想要传达给听众的信息是同样的。但在这里，你可能要在一天内处理10个不同国家的问题、6个不同的区域性乃至全球性的挑战。”

置身于美国外交努力的最前沿

正如拉美之行所显示的，希拉里正试图同时做到两点：既不停出访，又解决一系列国际问题。她置身于美国外交努力的最前沿，目的是巩固美国与多个重要国家的关系（主要是俄罗斯和中国，但也包括其它一些正在崛起的国家，如巴西、土耳其、印度尼西亚和南非），并降低热点地区（尤其是巴基斯坦）的反美情绪。她说，相关努力正在产生效果，并欢呼“在一些对美国的看法曾经颇为负面的地区，公众舆论正在发生变化”——她指的是俄罗斯和巴基斯坦。然而这一切远远谈不上一帆风顺。围绕伊朗问题和以色列袭击加沙救援船队的分歧，最近已引发美国与土耳其和巴西关系紧张，人们开始质疑奥巴马政府政策的有效性。

在我跟随她出访期间，巴西站是焦点所在。鉴于该国在拉美的领导地位有所增强，这并不奇怪。希拉里正在落实奥巴马政府的一个目标，即确保联合国安理会对伊朗实施新制裁，但在巴西利亚，她的努力失败了，未能赢得巴西总统卢拉(Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva)的支持。在与巴西外长塞尔索?阿莫林(Celso Amorim)联合召开的记者招待会上，她的语调近乎好战。她谴责“伊朗跑到巴西”以及土耳其和中国等国家，“对不同的人说不同的话，以求逃避国际制裁”，言语之间难以遏制自己的激愤。阿莫林在讲话中也以自己的方式展露锋芒——他援引90年代制裁伊拉克和2003年伊拉克战争前有关该国拥有大规模杀伤性武器的说法为例。“当然，我不完全同意国务卿的说法，”他说。

这不是一次愉快的经历——的确，巴西和土耳其最终都在联合国投票反对制裁伊朗，但希拉里没有放弃的迹象。多年前，克林顿的传记作者之一曾将他的执政手法描述为“永不停歇的竞选”，这似乎也是他妻子的首选生存方式。要说希拉里的人生中有什么是持续不变的，那就是她从不放弃，无论她的动机是权力还是政府工作。

对待政治“不能往心里去”

当我问她，在白宫经历了挫折和屈辱之后，她是否想过要退出政治舞台。“从来没有，从来没有！”她大声说。“我对高风险的政治生涯要求什么，有很现实的认知，我花了一段时间才达到这种状态，因为在刚进入这个竞技场时，你会感到震惊……但一旦你领悟了一切，你就能从分析和理解的角度去认真对待，但不能往心里去。”这种声明听上去还是有些怨恨。在英国选举辩论之前，她在关注相关报道，显然被有关领导人妻子的报道所激怒。“无论一个女人是自己参选还是支持丈夫竞选，都会因为穿了露脚趾的鞋子或外套的颜色而招致批评，卷入政坛的女人似乎注定要背负沉重的历史负担，”她说。

……

妇女所受到的不公正，似乎是最让希拉里热衷于这份工作的因素——就像她在美国公共生活中曾经扮演的其它众多角色一样，无论是第一夫人还是在那之前。“我强烈地感觉到，让女性获得机会与工具，使她们能够充分实现自己的人生价值，不仅符合美国的国家安全利益，也符合世界的利益，”她说。

上世纪90年代，她曾因为报纸对待她的方式而拒绝读报。如今，她说：“我肯定不看关于我的报道，我只看完成工作所需要了解的其它动态。”“关于她的报道都是胡扯，”她的新闻顾问菲利普?莱因斯(Philippe Reines)说。他安排了我与希拉里的这次会面，并坐在她办公室的一边。

“对啊，这就是他告诉我的，”希拉里回应说。

美国会出现女总统吗？

对此我心存疑虑。她可能不看关于自己的报道，但她接受Esquire、Vogue 和 Parade等美国杂志的采访，从而进一步提升了国内知名度。目的何在？希拉里说，她只会做一届（4年任期）国务卿，考虑到这份工作的辛苦，这是可以理解的。当我问她是否预计在未来10年左右美国会出现一位女总统时，她回答说：“我希望能有这一天，很显然，我希望有这一天。如果真有那么一天，我希望自己处在一个中心位置。”

“你自己有机会吗？”我问。

“不，不，我不认为事情会那样，”希拉里说。过去她曾更有针对性地否认过。“我认为，美国有整整一代的年轻女性和那些不那么年轻但成熟、经历世事的女性，她们通过自己的努力提升了社会地位，她们明白在社会上打拼有多么艰辛。竞选总统并非易事，我相信对女性来说难度更大，事实就是如此。”但一位美国官员说：“有人说她已告别选举政治，但她的公众形象和媒体关注都证明这种说法站不住脚。为何要做这些？她已经是希拉里?克林顿了。你得想想：‘进一步提升国内知名度背后的想法是什么？'”

2012年大选的副总统人选？

的确，按照一些人的说法，她已是美国人气最高的政界人士了，华盛顿一些人表示，她可能是2012年大选时副总统一职的不错人选。

回到圣保罗。市政厅会议结束后，希拉里将面临飞赴哥斯达黎加的七小时航程。旅行仍在继续，在这个棘手的世界上，作为美国的“首席女推销员”，她面临着漫长而艰难的道路。如今的美国在世界舞台上有时很难确立自己的权威，但如果希拉里推销的是她自己，那她面临的障碍就会少得多。作为不同于任何一位前任的美国国务卿，希拉里?克林顿早已是美国政坛上最令人生畏的人物之一，如今她看起来比以往任何时候都更为强大。（全文完）

（注：本文作者丹尼尔·董贝是FT美国外交事务记者。）

译者/功文