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By John Kaponi President Barack Obama has appointed two of the most seasoned diplomats in the United States in the guise of Richard Holbrooke, and George Mitchell, in an immediate statement to the international community that the United States wants a multilateral approach to foreign affairs.
CNN covered the appointment of the two diplomatic heavyweights by saying:
"The move could signal that Obama plans to get involved in the Mideast peace process early in his term. It was announced just before 3 p.m. at an event with President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."
Both Holbrooke and Mitchell are well respected in the Middle East and the Arab world with Hilary Clinton the Secretary of State confirming in a statement that George Mitchell will be a "special envoy on the Middle East" and Richard Holbrooke will be "special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan".
Eyes are now focused on Iran and how President Obama will engage with the emerging power in the Gulf. Soundings from Tehran already indicate that unless President Obama withdraws the Bush position of regime change dialogue will be protracted.
Globally the appointments of Holbrooke and Mitchell as envoys of the US Government have been welcomed with senior European diplomats in Brussels speaking to the London Daily News saying:
"Well at last we will revert back to the Clinton era channels of diplomacy and the world will be a safer place we hope".
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