Daily Archives: November 2, 2017

Confirmations: 18 @StateDept Nominations Including 15 Ambassadors

November 2, 2017 By in Ambassadors, Confirmations

Posted: 2:05 pm PT
Updated: 3:18 pm PT
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Below are the names of State Department nominees awaiting confirmation based on the October 26 Executive Calendar. On November 2, the U.S. Senate confirmed 18 State Department nominations including 15 ambassador nominees. Those confirmed today are marked in bold blue font. The nominee for Vietnam was previously confirmed on October 26 and reflected on the list below. The Senate has now adjourned until 3:00pm on Monday, November 6.

AMBASSADORS

HAITI | The Honorable Michele Jeanne Sison, of Maryland, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Haiti.

NETHERLANDS | The Honorable Peter Hoekstra, of Michigan, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

INDIA | The Honorable Kenneth Ian Juster, of New York, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of India.

DJIBOUTI |  The Honorable Larry Edward Andre, Jr., of Texas, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Djibouti.

VIETNAM| Mr. Daniel J. Kritenbrink, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. (2017-10-26 PN832)

TIMOR-LESTE |  Ms. Kathleen M. Fitzpatrick, of the District of Columbia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.

SPAIN & ANDORRA |  Mr. Richard Duke Buchan III, of Florida, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Spain, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Andorra.

GERMANY |  Mr. Richard Grenell, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Federal Republic of Germany.

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Tillerson Swears-In Wess Mitchell as Asst Secretary For European and Eurasian Affairs (State/EUR)

November 2, 2017 By in assistant secretaries, Political Appointees, Regional Bureaus, Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, State Department, Top Ranks Tags: , , ,

Posted: 3:06 pm ET
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After almost ten months, the State Department formally gets its first assistant secretary for one of its six geographic bureaus. On November 2, Secretary Tilerson sworn-in A. Wess Mitchell as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.  The Department of State first established a Division of Western European Affairs in 1909, which handled European nations primarily bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and their colonies. The name changed to the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs on August 8, 2001. A/S Mitchell’s predecessors include Victoria Nuland (2013–2017), Philip H. Gordon; Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (1994–1996); Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger (1981–1982), and Walter John Stoessel Jr. (1972–1974) to name a few.

Related:

Assistant Secretaries of State for Geographic Areas (Historical List)

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Trump Nominates Career Diplomat Joel Danies to be U.S. Ambassador to Gabon/Sao Tome and Principe

November 2, 2017 By in FSOs, Nominations, Officially In, Trump, U.S. Missions Tags: , , ,

Posted: 4:17 am ET
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On October 27, President Trump announced his intent to nominate career diplomat Joel Danies to be the U.S. Ambassador to Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe. The WH released the following brief bio:

Joel Danies of Maryland to be Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Gabonese Republic and the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.  Mr. Danies, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Counselor, has served as an American diplomat since 1987.  He is currently Associate Dean of the School of Professional and Area Studies, Foreign Service Institute, at the Department of State.  Mr. Danies has served in senior-level Department of State positions at home and abroad.  He earned a master’s degree from National War College in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree from University of Maryland, College Park.  He speaks French, Haitian-Creole and Arabic.

Is it just us or are the bios of career diplomats getting the minimalist treatment now? The WH-released bio doesn’t mention prior assignments anymore, only that the nominee has “served in senior-level Department of State positions at home and abroad.”

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NSC’s Christopher Ford to be Asst Secretary For International Security and Non-Proliferation

November 2, 2017 By in assistant secretaries, Nominations, Officially In, Political Appointees, State Department, Top Ranks, Trump Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted: 4:16 am ET
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On October 31, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Christopher A. Ford, currently with the National Security Council to be the next Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation (ISN). The WH released the following brief bio:

Christopher Ashley Ford of Maryland to be an Assistant Secretary of State, International Security and Non-Proliferation.  Dr. Ford currently serves as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction and Counterproliferation at the National Security Council.  Dr. Ford served on several different committees in the U.S. Senate, served as a State Department official, and worked as a senior fellow at Hudson Institute.  Dr. Ford is the author of three books – China Looks at the West: Identity, Global Ambitions, and the Future of Sino-American Relations (2015), The Mind of Empire: China’s History and Modern Foreign Relations (2010), and The Admirals’ Advantage: U.S. Navy Operational Intelligence in World War II and the Cold War (2005) – and scores of articles and monographs.  He also served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, receiving an Honorable Discharge at the rank of Lieutenant Commander.  Dr. Ford earned an A.B., summa cum laude, at Harvard University, a D.Phil. at Oxford University in the United Kingdom (as a Rhodes Scholar), and a J.D. at Yale Law School.  A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he lives with his family in Bethesda, Maryland.

Back in January, in a piece about the NSC, WaPo notes the following:

Longtime senate staffer Christopher Ford has joined the NSC staff to work on non-proliferation and nuclear issues. Ford has served as chief council for the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Banking Committee and most recently the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. During the George W. Bush administration, Ford was a deputy assistant secretary of state in the bureau of arms control and international security, then led by John Bolton.

His Wikipedia page is here.

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