Ambimama - India

Condoleezza Rice, presidential confidant and family friend, made life easier for Bush. The choice of Colin Powell’s replacement says a lot about the Bush administration’s plans for its second-term foreign policy. Condoleezza Rice is first and foremost a loyal Bush acolyte, almost part of the family..

A foreign policy hawk, she gave strong backing to the Iraq war and the policy of pre-emption.

Fiercely loyal to the Bush family, in the immediate aftermath of September 11 she asked senior staff at the national security council to think seriously about “how do you capitalise on these opportunities” in order to change US foreign policy.

No Palestinian leader can accept the fragmented Bantustan Ariel Sharon has in mind. Coercion into accepting such a solution will hasten the rise of Hamas. That will be where US intervention, and Ms Rice’s role, will become decisive.

When beginning as Secretary of State, Rice pioneered a policy of Transformational Diplomacy, with a focus on democracy in the greater Middle East. Her emphasis on supporting democratically elected governments faced challenges as Hamas captured a popular majority in Palestine yet supported Islamist terror, and influential countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt maintained non-democratic systems with U.S. support.

During the administration of George H. W. Bush, Rice also served as the Soviet and East European Affairs Advisor during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification.

In 2004 and 2005, she was ranked as the most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.