Appointments: Econ, Syria, NEA
US Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein is expected to be tapped as PDAS in the NEA bureau, US Ambassador to France Charles Rivkin is expected to be nominated Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, and more.
Who will oversee US Syria diplomacy, if Robert Ford, as we first reported, is tapped to succeed Anne Patterson as US Ambassador to Cairo?
US officials told us, as far as they know, the decision on that has not yet been finalized. Ford, in any case, "will do Syria for a few more months," as he prepares to go to Egypt, one official, speaking not for attribution, said Tuesday.
"I think serious thought should be given to moving the position out of the Department and to the field, along with 'team Syria' currently cloistered in NEA"--the State Department Near East Affairs bureau, one former senior US official told us. "A difference can be made in Turkey and Jordan with the opposition and in interacting with partners. Hard to do anything useful in Washington from inside the NEA bureaucracy."
Syria needs a US government point of contact, who can "manage the whole inter-agency Syria process," another current official said. That, in addition to "a seasoned diplomat who speaks Arabic and knows the region and could engage the Syrians."
