Antony J. Blinken, a defender of global alliances and one of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s closest foreign policy advisers, is expected to be nominated for secretary of state, a job in which he will try to coalesce skeptical international partners into a new competition with China, according to people close to the process
Blinken, 58, a former deputy secretary of state under President Barack Obama, began his career at the State Department during the Bill Clinton administration. His extensive foreign policy credentials are expected to help calm U.S. diplomats and global leaders alike after four years of the Donald Trump administration’s ricocheting strategies and nationalist swaggering.
Biden is also expected to name another close aide, Jake Sullivan, as national security adviser, according to a person familiar with the process. Sullivan, 43, served as the head of policy planning at the State Department during Hillary Clinton's stint as secretary of state and became her closest strategic adviser. When Blinken became deputy secretary of state in Obama’s second term, Sullivan succeeded him as Vice President Biden’s national security adviser.