Moxie?

This is coolbert:

From the prior blog entry - - the comments again of the British intelligence officer, Hughes-Wilson:

"Unpalatable as it may be to Western liberals, feminists or intellectuals, to send a female ambassador to an Arab country is always a calculated risk. In a culture where only men control power and evens, and 'strong' men are much praised, female plenipotentiaries are always at a disadvantage unless they themselves can demonstrate that they are unusually powerful figures or are capable of wielding power forcefully."

Within the Islamic cultural domain, and especially that domain dominated by Arabic culture - - among those women "unusually powerful figures or are capable of wielding power forcefully" the name of Gertrude Bell instantaneously comes to mind!

American females such as Condelezza Rice and Hillary Clinton have the same moxie, gumption and ability to function as well as Bell did? I fear not! Neither woman was/is an Arabic speaker and neither has lived for any period of time within the Islamic/Arabic cultural domain. April Glaspie too was seen by Saddam as a very "lightweight" and NOT to be taken seriously?

"mox⋅ie  - –noun Slang. 1. vigor; verve; pep.
2. courage and aggressiveness; nerve.
3. skill; know-how"

That is the perception, right or wrong! And recall - - "is not so much reality that counts as it is the perception of reality that counts!!" - - J. Jackson.

coolbert.