Quick hits

President Obama’s trip agenda at the end of the month includes London, Strasbourg, Prague, Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, March 30 to April 7. Director of National Intelligence Adm. Dennis Blair (ret.) testified to Senate Armed Services Committee today (pdf). “The primary near-term security concern of the United States is the global economic crisis and its geopolitical implications," he said. "The crisis has been ongoing for over a year, and economists are divided over whether and when we could hit bottom. Some even fear that the recession could further deepen and reach the level of the Great Depression.”And what’s the second greatest threat to U.S. interests Blair identified? Extremist groups that use terrorism. (See related the recent Washington Institute for Near East Policy-convened presidential task force panel report on counter-radicalization: “A strong investment in counterradicalization -- with special focus on helping mainstream Muslims provide hopeful and practical alternatives to jihadist ideology -- should be a critical element of the Obama administration's counterterrorism strategy,” the bi-partisan panel recommends.)When will former North Korea envoy Christopher Hill’s nomination hearings to become ambassador to Iraq take place? Senate foreign- policy staff point out that he has not officially been nominated yet. With former ambassador Ryan Crocker having departed Baghdad, the U.S. Embassy is being run in the interim by the deputy chief of mission.Help wanted: Former Clinton economic advisor Lael Brainard, who had been expected to be nominated to a top State Department economic post, is now reported likely to be named under secretary of the Treasury for international affairs. “Lael has been right in there with Geithner, Summers, et al working on the economic crisis so maybe they need her there as directly part of that team,” an associate says.“Clear and achievable goals” in Af-Pak: Vice President Joseph Biden told a press conference after meetings at NATO in Brussels today: “I also shared with my colleagues some of the factors that are shaping our thinking right now, including the requirement that we set clear goals and achievable goals: We need to look at Afghanistan and Pakistan together, because success in one requires progress in the other; the imperative of a comprehensive approach with a strong civilian and diplomatic effort is necessary because we know there is no purely military solution to either Afghanistan or Pakistan; the centrality of building up Afghan security forces -- because our goal is not to stay in Afghanistan, it's to be able to leave ..."Life outside of the administration: Former ambassador Robert Gallucci, currently dean of Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, is to take the helm of the MacArthur Foundation. Gallucci previously told The Cable he had been offered an Obama administration job but declined.The Council on Foreign Relations announces that James Lindsay is returning as its director of studies, and that former Bush NSC official Elliott Abrams and former deputy assistant secretary of state for south Asia Evan Feigenbaum have arrived as new scholars.The Connect U.S. Fund is tracking presidential appointments.