Washington briefing: State Department’s Caucasus manager names his successor

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Friday August 21, 2009

Tina Kaidanow.

Washington - Ambassador Tina Kaidanow will serve as the next U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of relations with the Caucasus, Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus. Matt Bryza, who currently holds the job, made the announcement in Georgia on August 10, Civil.ge reported. Amb. Kaidanow's has not yet been formally named by the State Department.

Speaking in Azerbaijan on August 12, Mr. Bryza said it was unclear whether Ms. Kaidanow would also succeed him as U.S. envoy for the Karabakh peace process, Turan news agency reported. The State Department has combined the two previously separate responsibilities in one official since 2004.

Embarking on a farewell tour of the South Caucasus earlier this month, Mr. Bryza indicated to Azerbaijani media that he remains hopeful about being appointed ambassador to Azerbaijan. The previous U.S. ambassador there, Anne Derse, completed her posting earlier this summer.

When reports first surfaced that Mr. Bryza was being considered for the job in Azerbaijan, several critics raised concerns about close personal relationships Mr. Bryza reportedly enjoyed with leaders in both Baku and Tbilisi. In various capacities at the State Department and the National Security Council, Mr. Bryza has been dealing with Caucasus issues without interruption since the mid-1990s.

Ms. Kaidanow has been focused on the Balkans for a similarly long period. From July 2008 until last June, she was U.S. ambassador to Kosovo, the first person to hold that position in a country that the United States recognized a year and half ago. Ms. Kaidanow served as U.S. chief of mission in Kosovo from 2006 to 2008 and was deputy ambassador in Bosnia from 2003 to 2006.

According to RFE/RL, while in Kosovo Ms. Kaidanow was known for "getting things done," but also - and very much in contrast to Mr. Bryza - appeared to avoid publicity and rarely gave interviews.

In her earlier assignments, Ms. Kaidanow served as special assistant to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage (2001-3) and before that as special assistant to the U.S. envoy for the Kosovo crisis, Christopher Hill. She also worked at U.S. embassies in Belgrade and Sarajevo and as an official managing U.S. policy in the Balkans at the President's National Security Council.