What Color is Hegemony? Powell, Rice and the New Global Strategists

Abstract

The appointments of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice to the positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, respectively, represented a significant breakthrough in terms of the participation of black Americans in US foreign policy construction. Their appointments, for a number of publics, raised issues about the relationship between race and US foreign policy, and whether either Powell or Rice could or would represent at any level a black consensus on foreign policy. This tension was heightened by the events of September 11, which led to the most sweeping transformation of US foreign policy in perhaps half a century, a transformation in which Powell and Rice played decisive roles. This article argues that while race has played a symbolic role in how the black community and others have perceived Powell and Rice, it has played no role in their substantive participation in the Bush administration's foreign policy initiatives.