New US cabinet: Biden relies on Blinken as Foreign Minister

Notwithstanding the interference from the Trump camp, the designated US President Biden is putting his administration together. He wants to introduce the first cabinet members on Tuesday. For the post of foreign minister, he is planning an experienced diplomat.

According to media reports, the elected US President Joe Biden wants to nominate Antony Blinken as Secretary of State. Biden will probably introduce the long-time confidante on Tuesday as the future chief diplomat, reports the “New York Times” and the Bloomberg news agency, citing insiders. Blinken is, therefore, Biden’s “most likely choice” for the office.

Blinken was Deputy Secretary of State from 2009 to 2016 under President Barack Obama. He was also Biden’s National Security Advisor from 2009 to 2013 when he was Obama’s Vice President. Blinken began his career in the State Department during the Bill Clinton administration. The 58-year-old is a proponent of multilateralism. His nomination as the successor to Mike Pompeo would indicate a turnaround in US foreign policy. In any case, Biden had promised to realign his country’s foreign policy: He promised to cement relations with allies worldwide and lead the USA back into international agreements. The elected President Donald Trump, whose motto is “America first,” is extremely critical of multilateralism.

Diversity as a philosophy when building a cabinet

During the election campaign, Biden had promised: “My government will look like America.” So diversity should be the motto. Observers believe that Biden knows many potential candidates from his time as deputy to former President Obama and that many women will get a chance.

Biden’s candidates for the ministerial posts all have yet to be approved by the Senate. The Republicans currently have a slim majority there. The majority ratios could change due to two runoff elections in the state of Georgia in early January.

New US cabinet: Biden relies on Blinken as Foreign Minister