Diplomacy's new muscle under Rice

Like others, the diplomat says that one of Rice's strengths is the strong team she has assembled. At the top of the list he puts Robert Zoellick, who was willing to drop down a notch from his posting as US trade representative to join Rice as her deputy, and Philip Zelikow, former executive director of the 9/11 commission who joined Rice as the State Department's counselor or senior policy adviser.

But it is Rice's relationship with President Bush that makes her stand out, and that above all separates her from the disappointing experience that foreign governments had with Mr. Powell.

"The Europeans liked Colin Powell, but that didn't matter so much once they realized he wasn't going to be able to deliver the president. But she can," says Ronald Asmus, executive director of the German Marshall Fund's Transatlantic Center in Brussels.

The list of specific issues that are being handled differently - with more consultation and a higher priority on finding common ground - is significant, foreign diplomats say, beginning with Iraq and Iran and extending to the approach to militant groups playing a role in Middle East political reform.

Pointing to Mr. Bush's recent suggestion that the US could work with groups that forswear violence to enter electoral politics, the high-ranking diplomat says, "I do think it stems from Condi."

Mr. Asmus of the German Marshall Fund says that such comments indicate how the change in US foreign- policymaking under Rice has been quickly grasped by the "elites" of key partners, particularly in Europe.

But he adds that a perception of change has not yet trickled down to the media and the general population of many countries. That view is seconded by a Pew Research Center survey published last week that shows the US image remaining low around the world - with particularly negative assessments in Muslim countries. (Indonesia, responding to substantial US tsunami relief, was a notable exception.)

Still, others say that Rice's honest discussion of America's flaws, and how one woman of color saw them change and overcame them, is having an impact with foreign audiences.

"If she spoke of the same ideas but were a white man from Alabama who hadn't lived the same experiences, it simply wouldn't carry the same weight," says Mr. Parmentier, who witnessed the impact that Rice's story had on French students. "It gives power and credibility to what she has to say about freedom."

The still-open question is whether Rice's approach of a steely diplomacy - but diplomacy all the same - is going to make a difference. A test is likely to come in the coming months, experts say, as the US and its partners face choices on Iran and its nuclear program, or the Israeli-Palestinian peace process after the Gaza withdrawal.

"If Iran gets harder after its elections or the Middle East deteriorates, are we going to be able to stick together?" queries Asmus. "Yes, there's a clear shift under Rice, but we haven't had any major successes yet, and the problems are getting harder, not easier."

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