Clinton to Host Foreign Affairs Panel

Josh Rogin has reported that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will host a meeting of a “panel made up of outside experts that will advise Clinton … on the top priorities facing the State Department.” Brookings Institution President Strobe Talbott will chair the “Foreign Affairs Policy Board,” and Jake Sullivan, director of the policy planning office at State, will coordinate the board’s activities. The panel is set to meet on December 19 and will focus on Clinton’s “economic statecraft initiative.” Rogin states that the board members consist of “a mix of Democrats and Republicans, former officials and experts from the military, diplomatic, and development fields.”

Board members include former Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, former Policy Planning Director Anne-Marie Slaughter, former Congresswoman Jane Harman, former National Security Advisor Steve Hadley, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, Brookings Institution scholar Bob Kagan, and many more.

Rogin cites a State Department press release: “The Board is composed of 25 members who will meet at the Department of State periodically to discuss issues of high priority for the Secretary and the Department. It will focus on broad strategic questions and provide the Secretary and other senior Department officials with insights, perspectives, and ideas. Secretary Clinton will meet with the Board several times during the duration of her tenure.”