Can Kerry measure up to 'rock star' Clinton ?

France 24

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) waves on February 27, 2013 as he leaves the presidential Elysee palace in Paris after meeting with French President Francois Hollande. AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY

It is a frequently repeated cliché, in Washington and beyond, that newly appointed US Secretary of State John Kerry has big shoes to fill.

But with Kerry currently on the first leg of an 11-day trip around Europe and the Middle East, there are signs that his approach to the job may be markedly different from Hillary Clinton’s widely praised brand of “rock-star diplomacy”.

Whereas Clinton strove to rehabilitate America’s image after eight years under an internationally unpopular President George W. Bush, the new secretary of state is thought to harbour more specific, and perhaps ambitious, objectives.

Whether President Barack Obama, known to be particularly hands-on in shaping foreign policy, will grant him the autonomy to pursue those objectives remains to be seen, political analysts and State Department officials say.

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