An inside story of Hillary Clinton's time as Secretary of State, anchored by Ghattas' own perspective and her quest to understand America's place in the world 
From Beirut to Washington is the first book of its kind: drawing on extensive interviews with administration officials, including Clinton herself, as well as other players around Washington and overseas, it provides a detailed look at an intensely private woman--arguably the most powerful woman in the world--from a journalist and author with both an insider and a global perspective.  
From Beirut to Washington tells the story of Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State, from the first days of the Obama administration, to the drama of Wikileaks, to the "Arab Spring" uprisings, and the standoff with Iran. Through Ghattas' eyes, we see Clinton under the intense professional spotlight commanded by the world’s chief diplomat, but also in the softer lighting of the more personal nuances of foreign relations - cheerfully boarding her plane at 3 AM after no sleep, committing a diplomatic blunder when she goes off-script at a press conference in Jerusalem, or cajoling foreign ministers to keep the coalition together during the war in Libya.  Viewed through Ghattas' vantage point as a half-Dutch, half-Lebanese citizen who grew up in the crossfire of the Lebanon civil war--and her personal quest to understand America's place in a rapidly changing global landscape--the book offers a close-up of diplomacy at the highest level while seeking to answer pivotal questions about the United States. Is America still the global superpower? If not, who or what will replace it, and what will it mean for America and the world?