Americas

Home page

Americas

White House names new coordinator for Middle East

03 March 2013 00:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The White House on Saturday named Philip Gordon as special assistant to the president and new coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf region, APA reports.

Thomas Donilon, President Barack Obama's top security advisor, said that Gordon will take up his duties on March 11. He described Gordon as "a key member" of Obama's foreign policy team for the past four years, adding that "his work with our European allies and partners has been indispensable in helping us to formulate policy and address issues around the globe, including Libya, Syria and Iran."

Gordon has served as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs since May 2009. Before that, he served as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, director for European affairs at the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton, and a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He was a senior foreign policy advisor when Obama launched his campaign for the 2008 presidential race.

Gordon has a Ph.D. and M.A. in international relations from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.