Women have to work exceptionally hard.

While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile.

But I do not believe that the world would be entirely different if there were more women leaders. Maybe if everybody in leadership was a woman, you might not get into the conflicts in the first place. But if you watch the women who have made it to the top, they haven't exactly been non-aggressive - including me.

Real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond waiting to doing.

The reason I made women's issues central to American foreign policy, was not because I was a feminist, but because we know that societies are more stable if women are politically and economically empowered.

If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.

I was in Europe and it was at this stage that I fell in love with Americans in uniform. And I continue to have that love affair.