Daily Archives: October 18, 2018

Trump to Nominate Retired Air Force General David Stilwell to be Asst Secretary For East Asian & Pacific Affairs

October 18, 2018 By in assistant secretaries, EAP|East Asia, Nominations, Officially In, Political Appointees, Trump Tags: , ,

On October 17, the WH announced the President’s intent to nominate Air Force veteran David Stilwell to be the next Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP). The WH released the following brief bio:

David Stilwell of Hawaii, to be an Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State.

Mr. Stilwell is an Air Force veteran with more than 35 years of experience as a pilot, commander, and Korean linguist. He retired in 2015 with the rank of Brigadier General. Currently, Mr. Stilwell is the Director of the China Strategic Focus Group at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters in Hawaii and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the East West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Previously, he served as Staff Officer for Joint Staff Plans and Policy (Asia) at the Pentagon and Defense Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Mr. Stillwell earned his B.S. from the U.S. Air Force Academy, and M.A. degrees from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, U.S. Air Command and Staff College, and the U.S. Army War College. He is the recipient of the Department of Defense Superior Service Award and speaks Korean, Chinese, and limited Japanese.

In December 2017, WH nominated career diplomat Susan Thorton to be A/S for EAP (see Career Diplomat Susan A. Thornton to be Asst Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP)). Her nomination became one more casualty of politics, particularly following the departure of former Secretary Tillerson. In July this year, she announced her retirement after a 27-year career with the U.S. Foreign Service (see Former State Department diplomat settles on historic Maine farm).

If confirmed, General Stilwell would succeed Daniel R. Russel who served from 2013 to 2017. Other prior appointees to this position include Winston Lord (1993–1997); Paul D. Wolfowitz (1982–1986); Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (1977–1981); William Averell Harriman (1961–1963), and David Dean Rusk (1950–1951) to name a few.

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Trump to Nominate Career Diplomat Mary Catherine Phee to be Ambassador to Qatar

October 18, 2018 By in Ambassadors, FSOs, Nominations, Officially In, Trump Tags: , , ,

On October 17, the WH announced the President’s intent to nominate career diplomat and former ambassador to South Sudan Mary Catherine Phee as the next U.S. Ambassador to Qatar. The WH released the following brief bio:

Mary Catherine Phee of Illinois, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the State of Qatar.

Ms. Phee, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as the Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation at the Department of State. Previously, she served as Ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, and Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Additionally, she served on the National Security Council as Director for Iraq and was the Senior Civilian Representative of the Coalition Provisional Authority to Maysan Province, al-Amarah, Iraq. Ms. Phee earned her B.A. from Indiana University and M.A.L.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She is the recipient the State Department’s Robert C. Frasure Memorial Award and the Baker-Wilkins Award for Outstanding Deputy Chief of Mission. She also received the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award and the Order of the British Empire. Ms. Phee speaks Arabic.

If confirmed, this would be Ambassador Phee’s second ambassadorial appointment. She was appointed and confirmed U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan in 2015.  She would succeed career diplomat Dana Shell Smith (1970–) who served as chief of mission to the US Embassy in Doha from 2014-2017.

Since 1960 when AFSA started tracking ambassadorial appointments, the U.S. Ambassador to Qatar appointees have been largely career diplomats. Only two appointees (Joseph Ghougassian (1944–) and Chase Untermeyer (1946–)) were political appointees.

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