President-elect Biden expected to select Antony J. Blinken as Secretary of State

WASHINGTON: Antony J. Blinken, former Deputy Secretary of State during the Obama Administration, is expected to be nominated for the Secretary of State under President-elect Biden's new administration; with other key appointments including U.N. Ambassador and National Security Adviser.

Mr. Blinken, now 58, began his career at the State Department under the Clinton Administration, and with his extensive experience is expected to soothe the doubts and concerns of global partners; after the Trump Administration's largely reactionary, inconsistent and nationalistic foreign policy approach.

Blinken's responsibilities as Secretary of State will be clear - to re-establish the United States as a trusted ally in the international community, and to integrate it back into global agreements and institutions, from which they were unceremoniously withdrawn under the Trump Administration.

Blinken has also notably served as a top aide on the senate Foreign Relations Committee, and later as Vice President Biden's National Security Adviser, helping to develop the American response to instability and conflict across the Middle East - often achieving mixed results.

At a forum at the Hudson Institute in July, Mr. Blinken stated that "The big problems that we face as a country and as a planet, whether it’s climate change, whether it’s a pandemic, whether it’s the spread of bad weapons, to state the obvious, none of these have unilateral solutions," adding that “Even a country as powerful as the United States can’t handle them alone".

The President-elect is also expected to name Jake Sullivan, who previously served as the Head of Policy Planning at the State Department under Secretary Hillary Clinton, as his National Security Adviser. Biden is also expected to nominate Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a 35-year veteran of the Foreign Service as his U.N. Ambassador.

The President-elect, despite the repeated upheavals and forced legal efforts by the incumbent President to overturn the election, has continued to prepare for the transitionary process.