Name? Antony Blinken
Westphalian identity? US American
Age? 58
Why is he in the news? Antony Blinken is expected to be nominated for Secretary of State when the Biden Administration takes office in January. Blinken formerly served as Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy National Security Advisor under the Obama administration as well as on President Clinton’s National Security Council staff.
Why do we care? Don’t get us wrong, the last four years were fun. Rex Tillerson was out of his depth, Pompeo, on the other hand, shined through complete loyalty to Trump and an interesting approach to the Middle East. But Blinken’s extensive foreign policy experience, close friendship with the Clintons (who attended his wedding!), and a band membership will ensure exciting years to come.
Why should you care? If you’re a fan of a strong European-American alliance, Blinken’s appointment should bring you great joy as his ties to Europe are not only professional but also personal. On multiple occasions, Blinken has described Europe as a “vital partner” of the U.S. Not surprising for a US American that lived in France for a while.
Who else cares? Jens Stoltenberg. As Secretary General of NATO, Stoltenberg is likely to gain a whole new level of importance once Blinken takes office as the Secretary-elect has already articulated his commitment to NATO alongside his commitment to signing an arms control agreement with Russia (he has 15 days for that after he comes into office) and a new nuclear deal with Iran.
Any further comments? Biden’s appointments to key offices such as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor in-fact have a greater immediate impact on American foreign policy, allies and enemies. Under multilateralist, internationalist, and Europeanist Blinken, US isolationism will soon fade into a new wave of US leadership on the international stage. He stated that the world does not organise itself, whether we like it or not. We could not have said it better.
