The Hillary Effect

Yesterday, we  saw how a visit from Hillary Clinton served as the catalyst to an agreement between Sudan and South Sudan in a dispute as long as South Sudan's independence.  On the ground in Juba only a few hours the previous day, HRC hailed the long-awaited settlement while a senior State Department official made it very clear that she alone deserves the credit.

The Secretary went to Juba in order to use her diplomatic influence and credibility to strongly encourage President Salva Kiir and the leadership of the South Sudan Government to embrace an acceptable and reasonable agreement that would bring to an end one of the most difficult and thorny issues left unresolved prior to that government’s independence from Sudan. She achieved that.
And it should be seen as her achievement; it should be seen as a major diplomatic success.

Also yesterday, in Nairobi,  Mme. Secretary attended this meeting.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, meets with meets with Somali Roadmap Signatories at the Intercontinental Hotel, in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012. At far right is Somalia President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, next to Somalia s Speaker of Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

For years I have marveled at the strength of  the bonds Hillary has generated among her supporters.  We have stuck together over the years in a way I have never seen around a former candidate who has not said that she will run for office again.  If she is a catalyst for progress,  she is also a strong element of cohesion as became evident in Nairobi this morning in the wake of Mme.  Secretary's departure.  The Signatories negotiations, scheduled to continue through today were disrupted when TFG President Sharif abruptly walked out of the meeting and left for the airport.  No Hillary, no cohesion.

Somalia: President Sharif Walks Out of Signatories' Meeting in Nairobi

5 August 2012
Nairobi — Transitional Federal Government (TFG) President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed reportedly stormed out of a meeting signatories were having in Nairobi on Sunday, Garowe Online reports.
Somali signatories of prior agreements such as the Roadmap, met with US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton in Nairobi on Saturday, to discuss the political process and the end of the transitional government.
After the meeting on Saturday, signatories remained in Nairobi to discuss possible amendments to the political process in the remaining two weeks.
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The minute she turns her back!  Don't make me come back there!