Yglesias suggests that Obama reward a smart Republican like Hagel not with Defense, but with the U.N. Ambassadorship:

It would be much more productive, I think, to take someone with a solidly conservative domestic record but internationalist views on foreign policy and make him (or her) UN Ambassador or something. That sends the message that the liberal approach to world affairs has appeal that transcends party lines or debates over tax policy or whatever else. . . .Those are ways of co-opting conservative politicians in order to broaden the appeal of progressive solutions, rather than a way that draws attention to alleged weaknesses in the progressive approach.

I understand the argument, but I can’t say that I agree with it.  Given our track record with the U.N., and given the fact that our credibility with the U.N. is at an all-time low, and especially given the fact that we need someone who can help fix the UN, I don’t think that Hagel is the right choice.  Maybe Jim Leach or Lincoln Chafee, but I don’t know if they’re the right choice either.

So who would I pick?  An old friend of mine.  I think he’d be absolutely brilliant.

Related posts

• The Transition
• Remembering Gerald Ford. Maybe Not So Much.
• Obamacons
• Wonk’d: Why the UN Human Rights Council Blows
• Wonk’d: What’s Right with the United Nations