Biden nominates Asia hand Kurt Campbell to be deputy Secretary of State
President Joe Biden has nominated Kurt Campbell, the current coordinator of Indo-Pacific affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) and widely considered to be among the architects of Quad’s new avatar and the administration’s approach to India, as the next US deputy Secretary of State.
President Joe Biden has nominated Kurt Campbell, the current coordinator of Indo-Pacific affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) and widely considered to be among the architects of Quad’s new avatar and the administration’s approach to India, as the next US deputy Secretary of State.
If approved by the Senate, Campbell will replace Wendy Sherman who retired earlier this year.
With former US ambassador to India Richard R Verma serving as the other deputy Secretary of State in charge of management and resources — Verma also currently handles the India portfolio at the department — this will be the first time that the State Department will have two deputies who are strong Asia hands and have expertise on China, East Asia, and South Asia. The department’s leadership has traditionally been dominated by those with stronger experience and grounding in Transatlantic relationships with European allies and Russia experts. Campbell’s nomination is seen as a sign of shifting American security priorities even as it grapples with wars in Europe and West Asia. Both deputies report to Secretary of State Antony J Blinken.
Campbell is a veteran American diplomat who has straddled the worlds of government, academia and business. As assistant secretary for East Asia and Pacific affairs in the State Department during the Barrack Obama administration, he played a key role in shaping the US pivot to Asia. He has also been a deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs at Pentagon, giving him a keen insight into the military dynamics of the region and a close protege of his, Ely Ratner, now handles the Indo Pacific portfolio at Pentagon.
Campbell was also the founding chairman and chief executive officer of The Asia Group, a top business advisory outfit in Washington DC, and also served as CEO and co-founder of the Center for a New American Security, a top DC thinktank, besides serving as the director of the Aspen Strategy Group.
But it is in his current role at NSC that Campbell has really got an opportunity to execute his policy ideas. Under Biden and his boss, national security advisor Jake Sullivan, Campbell helped elevate Quad to a leaders’ level summit, infused it with dynamism and shaped its joint statements with tangible outcomes. He has helped Biden seal a trilateral pact with Japan and South Korea, ensure additional military presence in Philippines, introduce and execute Aukus (the nuclear submarine deal between US, UK and Australia), and deepened American engagement with Southeast Asian nations. The administration also turned to Campbell when the US stepped up its engagement with Pacific Island countries in the last two years as Chinese presence in the region grew.
One of Campbell’s key passions is the relationship with India. In interviews to HT over the past year and in his public remarks, Campbell has often termed India a great power and the most consequential relationship for the US. He has spoken of the warm personal ties between Biden and PM Modi, the role of the Indian diaspora in deepening bilateral ties, as well as candidly spoken of the shared concerns around China’s actions. Campbell was among the key negotiators from the US side in drafting the historic joint statement at the end of Modi’s state visit to Washington DC this June.
Campbell’s elevation to the State Department will leave a gap in the NSC, but observers of Washington’s diplomatic scene believe that it will infuse much greater clarity on China and the wider Indo Pacific region in the State Department whose bureaucrats are seen as somewhat behind the curve on the region with NSC having taken the lead in shaping Biden’s approach to Asia.