IN diplomacy, it’s not always what you know – it’s who you serve. The White House has tapped a self-professed Hooters fan and an orthopaedic surgeon for two key postings in South-East Asia, a front line in the battle for influence between the United States and China. The inexperienced candidates for Singapore and Malaysia are raising eyebrows in a region Washington is already alienating with its trade war.
In the short term, a political appointee close to US president Donald Trump could be positive. Longer term, Washington risks losing out on decades of carefully crafted diplomacy and relationship-building that have served to advance American interests.
