Morning Brief: Here come the envoys
Top Story President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday announced the appointment of high-level envoys for two of the world’s toughest hotspots. George Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader who was widely praised for facilitating negotiations in Northern Ireland, will be dispatched to Israel. Richard Holbrooke, a former assistant secretary of state ...
Top Story
Top Story
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday announced the appointment of high-level envoys for two of the world’s toughest hotspots. George Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader who was widely praised for facilitating negotiations in Northern Ireland, will be dispatched to Israel. Richard Holbrooke, a former assistant secretary of state (and managing editor of FP) known for his work in Bosnia, will coordinate development and diplomacy in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Both envoys will report directly to Clinton. According to Clinton, the high-profile appointments “make it abundantly clear that robust diplomacy and effective development are the best long-term tools for securing America’s future.” But some observers, like veteran Mideast negotiator Aaron David Miller, worried that subcontracting these critical issues “could create a management problem.”
Middle East
A former Guantanamo inmate is now running the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda, the New York Times reports.
Israel’s war in Gaza boosted the popularity of its leaders, though perhaps not enough to defeat surging Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hamas has reportedly stepped up attacks against members of the rival Fatah party.
Asia
U.S. Treasury nominee Timothy Geithner accused China of manipulating its currency.
Kim Jong Il held his first meeting with a foreign envoy, a top Chinese official, since his stroke.
Rwanda arrested Congo rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, a former ally.
City workers in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, have gone on strike, demanding to be paid in hard currency.
The U.S. and its allies are working on a legal framework to try Somali pirates outside their homeland.
Europe
The UK is officially in a recession.
Ukraine may not be done negotiating over the recently inked gas deal with Russia.
Spain’s already-high unemployment rate hit 13.9 percent.
Americas
Cuba’s leader Raul Castro is hoping for a meeting with Barack Obama.
Mexico inaugurated one of the world’s largest wind-farm projects.
Voters in Nashville, Tennessee rejected a proposal to make English the city’s official language.
Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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