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Names: Blake to be assistant secretary for South and Central Asia

Robert Blake, the current U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka, and a career Foreign Service officer, will be named the next assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia. His nomination will be formally announced and submitted in the next couple weeks.  If confirmed, he will oversee a bureau with a shrunken domain. Jurisdiction over ...

Robert Blake, the current U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka, and a career Foreign Service officer, will be named the next assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia. His nomination will be formally announced and submitted in the next couple weeks.  If confirmed, he will oversee a bureau with a shrunken domain. Jurisdiction over Afghanistan and Pakistan has been taken out of the bureau and assumed by Special Representative Richard Holbrooke.  The new South and Central Asia bureau is responsible for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the former Soviet states in Central Asia.  

Robert Blake, the current U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka, and a career Foreign Service officer, will be named the next assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia. His nomination will be formally announced and submitted in the next couple weeks.  If confirmed, he will oversee a bureau with a shrunken domain. Jurisdiction over Afghanistan and Pakistan has been taken out of the bureau and assumed by Special Representative Richard Holbrooke.  The new South and Central Asia bureau is responsible for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the former Soviet states in Central Asia.  

Laura Rozen writes The Cable daily at ForeignPolicy.com.

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