Sec. Clinton wins praise from international diplomats

[Ogre Mage]

In her debut on the world stage as SoS, she has made a good first impression:

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/07/AR2009030701765.html?sid=ST2009030800003


And from the Financial Times Brusselsblog:

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[Ogre Mage]

to be honest, don't they have to say stuff like that, if they're diplomats? At least at first...

Yes, this is the usual diplomatic talk. And there is a grace period.

If this were the U.K., I would agree.  However, I would not assume that the Russian and French Foreign Ministers are going to automatically praise the U.S.

One can contrast Russian Foreign Minister's Lavrov's first meeting with Clinton vs. his first meeting with Condi Rice in 2005.  It did not sound like a grace period.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/06/AR2009030600428_pf.html

As far as I know, Lavrov did not say he had a wonderful personal relationship with Rice.