samantha power madam ambassador

During Samatha Power's tenure as the United States' ambassador to the United Nations, there was a period of time in which she was one of six women sitting on the 15-person Security Council. Today, Power is the only woman on the council.

"When we were six women," she says, "we could shape a culture of more interaction, more listening. Now I feel less of that. The fact that so many people comment and are embarrassed by thisincluding, in fairness, the men on the council—is a sign that things are changing, but they're not changing nearly fast enough."

Power, the mother of two young children, often seeks to humanize the Security Council's choices by inviting people affected by them to meet the ambassadors—though she she is aware some dismiss the practice as little more than a manifestation of womanly tenderness. But those doubts haven't stopped her. "I think women should never lose the instinct to listen and to actually hear, but we need to become as unflappable as we can become."

Power says she's learned this lesson from her negotiations with the Russian ambassador, a highly experienced diplomat who is very good at what he does. "The main thing is to just stay focused on what you're trying to achieve and tune out the noise."