President Bush, as everyone already knows, has picked Condoleezza Rice to be his new Secretary of State. In doing so -- along with his previous choice of Alberto Gonzalez as Secretary of Justice -- the President has signaled in no uncertain terms that there will be no slowing or turning back in his second term.

These are people that have been the true architects, along with Mr. Bush himself, of the major initiatives of the first term. In many ways, Ms. Rice already was the Secretary of State; Mr. Powell merely added his considerable prestige to policy.

As one of the foremost geopolitical thinkers of our time, Ms. Rice is the best of all possible choices for State in the Gnomon's opinion. Let's hope that she leaves a deep impress on that most recalcitrant of Cabinet-level departments.