Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

top
Obama's closely-guarded calculations may have been thrown askew by Friday's shock resignation of CIA director David Petraeus, opening up another job/AFP-File

World

Who will be in Obama’s new dream team?

“It depends on how much capital the president wants to spend on this.”

Kerry’s appointment to a cabinet post would also force an election for his Massachusetts seat in the US Senate, which could see popular Republican Scott Brown defeated on November 6 take another tilt at Congress.

However, analysts felt the Democrats had done better than expected in last week’s election winning a 55-seat majority in the Senate, including two independents expected to vote with them, giving them a cushion.

While Kerry’s war record was the subject of some controversy during his 2004 presidential campaign, he is widely seen as a safe pair of hands to be entrusted with America’s wide-ranging and powerful foreign policy.

“There’s a combination of prudence, and knowledge,” said Christopher Preble, vice president for defence and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute.

The veteran senator would bring sober reflection on US intervention in world crises to the table born from the “lessons taken away from the war in Iraq in particular, but also Afghanistan,” Preble told AFP.

Rice on the other hand was an enthusiastic proponent of intervention in Libya, which he felt was out of step with “the mood of the country.”

Pavel, however, who has sat in the Situation Room with Rice, said he appreciated her directness which at times has raised eyebrows at the UN.

“It’s sometimes a pleasure to have someone who can be diplomatic when they need to be and blunt and direct when they don’t need to be,” he said.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Donilon, who has been Obama’s trusted national security advisor since 2010, is said to want the State Department post, but some say he lacks the political stature of either Rice or Kerry.

Obama may also have a surprise in store as in 2008 when he picked Clinton, his fierce foe in the Democratic primary race, and kept Defence Secretary Robert Gates in his post. He could again choose a moderate Republican.

Names circulating include former secretary of state Colin Powell, Chinese speaker Jon Huntsman who was appointed US envoy to Beijing by Obama, and former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel.

“It’s the kind of thing a pragmatic President Obama might do,” Pavel said.

Preble, however, argued that “ultimately I don’t know how much goodwill you buy for yourself” by picking a Republican in this partisan climate.

Showing willingness “to cooperate with the Democrats and particularly the Democratic president” effectively undermines “your credibility among your party,” he said.

At the CIA, Obama could opt for a quick fix by naming acting CIA director Michael Morell as Petraeus’ permanent replacement.

About The Author

Pages: 1 2

Comments
Advertisement

More on Capital News