I have little doubt that Hillary Clinton was fundamentally involved in the Saudi Arabian announcement today that women will be "allowed" to vote, hold office, and serve on advisory panels:
http://www.latimes.com/...
Reporting from Cairo— King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia surprised his ultraconservative nation Sunday by announcing bold reforms that for the first time will give women the right to vote, run for local office and serve on the Shura Council, the king's advisory board.
The measures by an aging monarch who has battled Islamic hard-liners for years will marginally improve the standing of women in a country that still forbids them to drive or leave the house without their faces covered. The moves appear likely to enrage religious conservatives while advancing at least a veneer of change in one of the world's most repressive states.
There's plenty of quibbles to be made: how dare he think that women are so secondary:
He added: "Women will be able to run as candidates" in the 2015 municipal election "and will even have a right to vote."
and plenty more -- umm... driving? -- but it's a huge stride forward.
And I doubt it's a stride that would have been made today without Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State.
I don't think we'll find out about what pressure or suasion was brought to bear, for fifty years. I don't think she'll take credit for it, partly because it's not a simple matter of cause and effect. And certainly no Saudi king, prince, or other male would ever admit such a thing.
But I'm relatively sure, based on no insider knowledge, no subscription-only resources, no special access -- but based on watching international politics for several decades -- that Hillary made this happen.
It's way outside my normal domains of expertise, however.
Am I way off base?