It’s rare that proÂfesÂsors find themÂselves at the cenÂter of a politÂiÂcal firestorm. But that’s where SamanÂtha PowÂer, ProÂfesÂsor of PracÂtice of GlobÂal LeadÂerÂship and PubÂlic PolÂiÂcy at HarÂvard, found herÂself last week when, durÂing an off-the-record conÂverÂsaÂtion with a reporter, she referred to Hillary ClinÂton as a “monÂster” and then had to resign as senior forÂeign polÂiÂcy to advisÂer to Barack ObaÂma.
Until then, PowÂer had been ridÂing a big wave of sucÂcess. Only 37 years old, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her first book, A ProbÂlem from Hell: AmerÂiÂca and the Age of GenoÂcide. She’s also now proÂmotÂing her secÂond book, ChasÂing the Flame: SerÂgio Vieira de MelÂlo and the Fight to Save the World. (Watch a clip from the book tour here). And until this high proÂfile slip-up, she was clearÂly helpÂing shape ObaÂma’s forÂeign polÂiÂcy. You can hear PowÂer’s influÂence in how ObaÂma answered the highÂly pubÂliÂcized quesÂtion last sumÂmer — would you, as presÂiÂdent, negoÂtiÂate directÂly with Iran’s AhmadineÂjad? (He said yes.) PowÂer’s thinkÂing on interÂnaÂtionÂal diploÂmaÂcy gets articÂuÂlatÂed fairÂly well in this lengthy interÂview. Below, we’ve also postÂed a clip (from FORA.tv) of PowÂer speakÂing about ObaÂma and the quesÂtion of negoÂtiÂatÂing with eneÂmies. (Get the full talk here.)
Looks like she will have to learn to negoÂtiÂate with politÂiÂcal eneÂmies closÂer to home if she is going to make the jump from acadÂeÂmia to the world or real polÂiÂtics…