Hillary Clinton at Cheltenham: Powerful advocate of liberal democracy or a woman in denial?

Hillary Clinton addresses the Cheltenham Literature Festival yesterday.Reuters

If you feel you may have heard enough from Hillary Clinton, who did interviews across the UK TV networks last week to promote her new book about the 2016 presidential election What Happened, discussing everything from the Harvey Weinstein scandal to Brexit, you're in for a disappointment.

For as the former Secretary of State told the Cheltenham book festival yesterday: 'I'm not going anywhere, except right into the middle of the debate about our future.'

And though she confessed that occasionally she just wanted to stay in bed and 'pull the covers up over my head', Clinton certainly has much to say, on everything from Russia and Vladimir Putin to the rise of populism in western Europe and, yes, the US.

'I know many in the UK followed our presidential election, just as we Americans had followed the EU referendum. There was a lot of commiserating over the shock of election results and worry about the future,' she told the packed audience at the oldest literary festival in the world.

And in a dig at the man to whom she lost, Donald Trump, Clinton added: 'These are challenging times for both of our countries. But despite what you may read on Twitter, most Americans stand with our allies and our friends around the world – on behalf of global peace and prosperity.'

Her explanation for her defeat only nodded momentarily to genuine feeling among the electorate, before the woman who once claimed that a 'vast right-wing conspiracy' was waged against her husband Bill moved on to what she sees, perhaps, as the real reasons she lost.

'The forces at work in the 2016 elections are still with us. In the US, it was a perfect storm: deep currents of anger and resentment flowing through our culture; a political press that told voters my emails were the most important story; the unprecedented intervention in our election by the FBI; and the information warfare waged from within the Kremlin.

'What we've learned about Russian interference in the election is more than alarming; it's a clear and present danger to western democracy, and it's right out of Putin's playbook...This isn't just about what happened; it's about what's happening right now. The Russians are still playing on anything and everything they can to turn Americans against each other. In addition to hacking America's elections, the Russians are hacking our discourse and our unity.'

She went on: 'All of this is playing out against a broader story. We are in the middle of a global struggle between liberal democracy and a rising tide of illiberalism. Putin has positioned himself as the leader of an authoritarian and xenophobic movement that wants to break up the EU, weaken the Atlantic Alliance, and undermine democracy. We're seeing ripples of this in right-wing populism and nationalism across Europe, and in the democratic backsliding in countries like Hungary, Poland, and perhaps now, even in the US.'

Domestically, Clinton reverted to more familiar themes, including sexism. 'The only way we'll get sexism out of politics is to get more women into politics.

'The research is pretty clear: For men, likability and professional success go hand-in-hand. In other words, the more successful a man becomes, the more people like him. With women, it's the exact opposite. The more professionally successful we are, the less people like us. I suspect some of you in this room may have an inkling what I'm talking about.

'Not only that, women are seen favourably when they advocate for others, but unfavourably when they advocate for themselves. That struck a chord with me. Historically, people like me when I'm serving in a supporting role: serving as First Lady in the White House, serving the people of New York in the Senate, serving as a member of President Obama's cabinet. But the minute a woman stands up and says, "Now I'd like a chance to lead," everything changes.'

There was, perhaps, and not for the first time, just a hint of resentment in that reference to serving under Barack Obama. And this is part of the problem with Hillary Clinton, powerful though her arguments undoubtedly are.

For Obama himself beat her to the Democratic nomination in 2008 because, having, among other things, opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq that she supported, he represented a clean break from the Washington establishment. Even Bill Clinton acknowledged during their tense debates that Obama was the 'roll of the dice' candidate.

Sadly for her, and for the US and the rest of the world, she never quite managed to shed that image. There is a sense of entitlement, always fatal in politics, and while What happened will undoubtedly make fascinating reading to many, there will be lingering questions about whether she is best placed to answer that question.