The
2011 Egyptian protests posed the most challenging foreign policy crisis for the administration yet.
[358] Clinton's public response quickly evolved from an early assessment that the government of
Hosni Mubarak was "stable", to a stance that there needed to be an "orderly transition [to] a democratic participatory government", to a condemnation of violence against the protesters.
[359][360] Obama came to rely upon Clinton's advice, organization and personal connections in the behind-the-scenes response to developments.
[358] As
Arab Spring protests spread throughout the region, Clinton was at the forefront of a U.S. response that she recognized was sometimes contradictory, backing some regimes while supporting protesters against others.
[361]
The
London meeting to discuss NATO military intervention in Libya, March 29, 2011
As the
Libyan Civil War took place, Clinton's shift in favor of military intervention aligned her with
Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice and National Security Council figure
Samantha Power and was a key turning point in overcoming internal administration opposition from Defense Secretary Gates, security advisor
Thomas E. Donilon and counterterrorism advisor
John Brennan in gaining the backing for and Arab and U.N. approval of, the
2011 military intervention in Libya.
[361][362][363] Secretary Clinton testified to Congress that the administration did not need
congressional authorization for its military intervention in Libya, despite objections from some members of both parties that the administration was violating the
War Powers Resolution and the State Department's legal advisor argued the same when the Resolution's 60-day limit for unauthorized wars was passed (a view that prevailed in a legal debate within the Obama administration).
[364] Clinton later used U.S. allies and what she called "convening power" to promote unity among the
Libyan rebels as they eventually overthrew the
Gaddafi regime.
[362] The
aftermath of the Libyan Civil War saw the country becoming a
failed state,
[365] and the wisdom of the intervention and interpretation of what happened afterward would become the subject of considerable debate.
[366][367][368]