I'm not really into fandom, but Susan Rice is my type of public figure. She maintains a balance between the practical and the academic that I find is being lost on aspiring thought leaders today and she seems like someone who is put together, even in the face of controversy.
Whatever you thought of her role in communicating what happened in Benghazi last fall, she handled herself really well. I only saw one interview where she addressed being passed over for Secretary of State, but her comments lacked the faux vulnerability that too many interviewees feel the need to communicate. She may have been mad, she may have even gone home and punched a wall, but you wouldn't know it from her demeanor. She's a trooper and I like that.
Rice was an early supporter of then-Senator Obama, so I'm glad to see her vision has paid off. Not that she's been slumming the past four years as our UN Ambassador, but this is a great opportunity. "National Security Advisor" may not sound as prestigious as "United States Secretary of State", but it is more impactful.
As the White House has become more active in foreign policy in recent decades, the National Security Council (NSC) has become a power center. The Secretary of State may have more cameras following him/her, but the National Security Advisor coordinates a national security apparatus that has become larger as national security has become tied to more domestic and international issues.
While I have misgivings about how bloated our national security architecture has become, I am in favor of a more expansive conception of national security. Our security is connected to the security of others and the best ways to improve security are to provide more people globally with opportunities for social mobility. This means increased innovation, improved education, and access to legitimacy, access, and capital - the successful deployment of smart power and social impact. One example of this is American embassies abroad providing grants to local youth for social projects.
While Rice's name may not be explicitly attached to big foreign policy initiatives like that, I hope she'll be a forceful advocate for them in the Oval Office. National security is about more than drones after all.
Now, what about Samantha Power for UN Ambassador?
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/magazine/111353/susan-rice-isnt-going-quietly
