Special Envoys

by Kakofonous

Barack Obama's newly christened State Department has chosen two far-from-newbies to lead special diplomatic missions in the Middle East, both Clinton administration veterans: George Mitchell and Richard Holbrooke. Mitchell handled the unprecedented U.S. diplomatic project in ending the Troubles of Northern Ireland: clearly Obama and Hillary Clinton are hoping that the somewhat similar struggle going on between Israel and Palestine, as well as the wider situation in the Middle East, will also prove shapeable by Mitchell's skill.

Holbrooke, who penned an insightful article in Foreign Affairs about the difficult foreign policy issues that the Obama administration will face, has vast diplomatic expertise; he is most known for his crucial involvement in the peace process in the aftermath of the Bosnian War. He is currently Obama's eyes, ears, and hands in Pakistan and Afghanistan: the two countries in which terrorism and extremism are facing the least resistance and gaining the most resources.

Still, there is cause for skepticism as the Clinton team begins to take shape, a shape very similar to that of the first Clinton team. Holbrooke was involved in Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign; his loyalty, and the loyalty of the seemingly dynastic State Department, to the interests of the Clintons or of the administration at large will be a crucial issue in the way the Obama administration, burdened as it is by an extensive foreign policy agenda, deals with the problems that it faces.

Plus: Secretary Clinton's speech introducing Mitchell and Holbrooke