Bryza may be appointed US envoy to Azerbaijan
Senior State Department official Matthew Bryza, who
has been a US liaison with the Georgian leadership, including
during the brief Russian-Georgian war last summer, is being
recommended by supporters to become the next US ambassador to
Azerbaijan, according to The Cable publication of the
Washington-based Foreign Policy magazine.
At the same time, some in Washington have expressed concern that the appointment of Bryza, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasian affairs, as Washington`s man in Baku might potentially put a wrinkle in US President Barack Obama`s efforts to "reset" relations with Russia and send mixed signals about the kind of relationship he is trying to build.
But an associate close to Bryza says it is inaccurate that Moscow would perceive him as hostile or too close to Tbilisi, and noted that Bryza has developed strong relationships with Russian officials. Further, Bryza has a solid record in pressing the Georgian government not to deploy its military forces, the associate said on condition of anonymity.
Bryza, a career Foreign Service officer who previously served at the US embassy in Moscow, was an NSC director on Europe during President Bush`s first term and served as the deputy to Daniel Fried, the Assistant Secretary of State for Europe during Bush`s second term. Two Washington Russia hands said they were told that Fried, now the US ambassador at large on Guantanamo detainee issues, was recommending Bryza for the Baku envoy appointment and had recently raised the matter with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Both Fried and Bryza have declined to comment on the possible appointment.
Clinton "makes her own decisions and not based on any single person`s recommendation," an administration official said, on condition of anonymity.
Bryza was seen as having gone "beyond what someone in his position would usually do" in showing support for Mikheil Saakashvili in the run-up and during the Georgian-Russian conflict last summer, a former senior Clinton administration official said. "Not so much by what he said," but with "frequent public demonstrations that he was" close to the Georgian president.
However, Bryza was also representing the preferences of the administration he then served, the former official acknowledged. "A lot of people in the US government have responsibility for the aggressiveness of Georgia last summer and the mistaken belief there that the U.S. was going to come to their support" more forcefully than it did, the former official said.
Among the concerns about a Bryza appointment would be the potential scuttling of a Russian-proposed plan for U.S.-Russian cooperation on a radar site in Azerbaijan, the former official said. Azerbaijan carefully adjusts its behavior toward Moscow, tilting toward the West while taking care not to provoke Russia`s ire.
"He is very close to the Georgians, even for our administration," a former Bush foreign-policy hand said of Bryza. "It wouldn`t surprise me if he was paying a price now for his service during the Bush administration."
It would be a mistake to pick officials based upon whether it pleases Moscow, the current administration official countered. "We should not make choices about ambassadors to third countries based principally on Russian sensitivities," he said, on condition of anonymity. "They don`t own their former empire. We don`t conduct our relations with Baku through Moscow. We have to work with Russia and understand their concerns. But to understand is not to give them veto power over other countries or [over] our relations with other countries."
Sources worried about Moscow`s opinions on the Baku appointment, he continued, "obviously don`t understand what Obama is trying to do with Russia. There is no Russian sphere of influence that we will recognize."
In other former East bloc appointments, current US ambassador to Georgia John Tefft is in the mix to possibly become US ambassador to Ukraine. And the US ambassador to Bulgaria, Nancy McEldowney, is to be named principal deputy assistant secretary to Philip Gordon, Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs. Both career Foreign Service Officers are very well regarded, the former Clinton administration official said.
At the same time, some in Washington have expressed concern that the appointment of Bryza, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasian affairs, as Washington`s man in Baku might potentially put a wrinkle in US President Barack Obama`s efforts to "reset" relations with Russia and send mixed signals about the kind of relationship he is trying to build.
But an associate close to Bryza says it is inaccurate that Moscow would perceive him as hostile or too close to Tbilisi, and noted that Bryza has developed strong relationships with Russian officials. Further, Bryza has a solid record in pressing the Georgian government not to deploy its military forces, the associate said on condition of anonymity.
Bryza, a career Foreign Service officer who previously served at the US embassy in Moscow, was an NSC director on Europe during President Bush`s first term and served as the deputy to Daniel Fried, the Assistant Secretary of State for Europe during Bush`s second term. Two Washington Russia hands said they were told that Fried, now the US ambassador at large on Guantanamo detainee issues, was recommending Bryza for the Baku envoy appointment and had recently raised the matter with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Both Fried and Bryza have declined to comment on the possible appointment.
Clinton "makes her own decisions and not based on any single person`s recommendation," an administration official said, on condition of anonymity.
Bryza was seen as having gone "beyond what someone in his position would usually do" in showing support for Mikheil Saakashvili in the run-up and during the Georgian-Russian conflict last summer, a former senior Clinton administration official said. "Not so much by what he said," but with "frequent public demonstrations that he was" close to the Georgian president.
However, Bryza was also representing the preferences of the administration he then served, the former official acknowledged. "A lot of people in the US government have responsibility for the aggressiveness of Georgia last summer and the mistaken belief there that the U.S. was going to come to their support" more forcefully than it did, the former official said.
Among the concerns about a Bryza appointment would be the potential scuttling of a Russian-proposed plan for U.S.-Russian cooperation on a radar site in Azerbaijan, the former official said. Azerbaijan carefully adjusts its behavior toward Moscow, tilting toward the West while taking care not to provoke Russia`s ire.
"He is very close to the Georgians, even for our administration," a former Bush foreign-policy hand said of Bryza. "It wouldn`t surprise me if he was paying a price now for his service during the Bush administration."
It would be a mistake to pick officials based upon whether it pleases Moscow, the current administration official countered. "We should not make choices about ambassadors to third countries based principally on Russian sensitivities," he said, on condition of anonymity. "They don`t own their former empire. We don`t conduct our relations with Baku through Moscow. We have to work with Russia and understand their concerns. But to understand is not to give them veto power over other countries or [over] our relations with other countries."
Sources worried about Moscow`s opinions on the Baku appointment, he continued, "obviously don`t understand what Obama is trying to do with Russia. There is no Russian sphere of influence that we will recognize."
In other former East bloc appointments, current US ambassador to Georgia John Tefft is in the mix to possibly become US ambassador to Ukraine. And the US ambassador to Bulgaria, Nancy McEldowney, is to be named principal deputy assistant secretary to Philip Gordon, Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs. Both career Foreign Service Officers are very well regarded, the former Clinton administration official said.
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