Today, the Center for American Progress hosts a public discussion with U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and his Interagency Team. Check out the list of panelists who will be joining Holbrooke and moderator CAP President John Podesta:
Paul W. Jones, Deputy to the Special Representative and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Afghanistan and Pakistan (STATE)
Dan Feldman, Deputy to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Rosemarie Pauli, Chief of Staff, Office of Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Vikram Singh, Senior Defense Advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (DOD)
Christopher Reimann, Senior Law Enforcement Advisor for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (FBI)
Beth Dunford, Senior Development Advisor, Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (USAID)
Vali Nasr, Senior Advisor to the Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan
Jane Marriott, Senior Advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (UK FCO)
Barnett R. Rubin, Senior Advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Rina Amiri, Senior Advisor on Afghanistan for the Office of the Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan
Rami Shy, Senior Treasury Advisor, Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (Treasury)
Ashley Bommer, Special Advisor to the Special Representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan
Sepideh Keyvanshad, Senior Development Advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (USAID)
JoAnne Arzt, Director of the Afghanistan Support Office and General Management Support to Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
MG Burton Field, Senior Military Advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (DOD)
Otto J. Gonzalez, Senior Agricultural Advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (USDA)
Simply put, Holbrooke has assembled a foreign policy dream team. Six different federal agencies make up the team (as well as the British foreign office). You have folks with prior experience working humanitarian affairs at the National Security Council, counterinsurgency at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and with years of experience in the field with the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan. There are four PhDs, including two of the most acclaimed academic experts on South Asia, Barnett Rubin and Vali Nasr. Add to that senior Foreign Service officers from both State and USAID, an Air Force Major General who’s served two tours on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, a veteran of the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan, and specialists on everything from strategic communications to management.
There is no denying that Afghanistan and Pakistan form the Obama administration’s highest foreign policy priority, so it would be unfair to compare the resources allotted to Holbrooke with those devoted to the Sudan. That said, Holbrooke’s team does offer a compelling model for the staffing of special envoys. How many regional experts does Special Envoy Gration have at his disposal? How many senior Foreign Service officers with experience in Khartoum? How many veterans of U.N. missions or aid agencies? Anyone seconded from or to key partner governments? We need to make sure our Special Envoy has the right set of diplomatic tools to engage in conflict resolution in as complex a setting as Sudan.