By Kenneth White

The Senate confirmed today the next secretary of state to be Mike Pompeo, with democrats backing the choice. Until a few days ago it seemed unlikely that the CIA Director would make the cut but Rand Paul, under assurances from the Trump administrations that the war in Iraq was a ‘mistake’ and that the U.S. should wind down its presence in Afghanistan, flipped his vote in favor of Pompeo. Republicans called him “uniquely qualified” while Democrats referred to his policies as “hawkish”.

As he steps into the role Pompeo will have a number of challenges on his plate immediately from a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels this coming Friday, to further conflicts with Russian as well as Trump’s decision on whether to abandon the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, which French President Macron called into question during his speech to Congress.