On the Road with Hillary Clinton

I spent last week on a whirlwind trip with Secretary of State Clinton to Malta, Libya, Oman, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Five countries in five days. We were in Libya two days before the death of Muammar Gaddafi. Then in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Secretary acted as a kind of referee between a pair of dangerous frenemies. In a volatile, multipolar era, Clinton is trying to forge a new kind of statecraft, combining the traditional American hard power of military strength with the soft power of U.S. finances and values. She calls this smart power, and she is herself an embodiment of it, blending the politician’s gift of seeming candid with the diplomat’s art of saying little. Her trips include examples of both–private high-level meetings with officials and public forums where she takes questions from local citizens. That’s another reason she keeps a killer schedule: being both diplomat and politician doubles the number of events on your calendar. Our cover story was written by Washington correspondent Massimo Calabresi, who has immersed himself in the Secretary’s vision and actions as America’s role in the world is evolving. I also had the great pleasure of traveling with veteran photographer Diana Walker, who has been photographing Hillary Clinton behind the scenes since 1996. You can see more of Diana’s pictures at lightbox.time.com

Richard Stengel, MANAGING EDITOR