Tony Blinken |
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 Official portrait, 2015 |
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| 18th United States Deputy Secretary of State |
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In office
January 9, 2015 – January 20, 2017 |
| Preceded by | William Joseph Burns |
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| Succeeded by | John Sullivan |
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| United States Deputy National Security Advisor |
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In office
January 20, 2013 – January 9, 2015 |
| President | Barack Obama |
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| Preceded by | Denis McDonough |
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| Succeeded by | Avril Haines |
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| National Security Advisor to the Vice President of the United States |
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In office
January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2013 |
| Vice President | Joe Biden |
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| Preceded by | John P. Hannah |
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| Succeeded by | Jake Sullivan |
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| Personal details |
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| Born | Antony John Blinken
April 16, 1962 (age 58)
New York City, New York, U.S. |
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| Political party | Democratic |
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| Spouse(s) | |
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| Relations | Donald M. Blinken (father)
Alan Blinken (uncle) |
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| Education | Harvard University (AB)
Columbia University (JD) |
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Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official who served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State from 2015 to 2017 and Deputy National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2015 under President Barack Obama. Blinken is now a global affairs analyst for CNN.[1] He has been chosen by President-elect Joe Biden for the position of Secretary of State.[2][3]
During the Clinton administration, Blinken served in the State Department and in senior positions on the National Security Council staff.[4] He was also a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (2001–2002), Democratic Staff Director of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (2002–2008), and a member of the Obama–Biden presidential transition, active from November 2008 to January 2009, among other positions. From 2009 to 2013, Blinken served as Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President.
Early life and education
Blinken was born on April 16, 1962 in New York City, New York, to Jewish parents, Judith (Frehm) and Donald M. Blinken.[4][5][6] He attended the Dalton School in New York City until 1971, when he moved to Paris, France, where he attended École Jeannine Manuel.[7] He moved there with his divorced mother and her new husband, attorney Samuel Pisar, who had survived both the Auschwitz and Dachau camps in the Holocaust.[4]
Blinken attended Harvard University, where he worked on The Harvard Crimson[8][4] and co-edited the weekly art magazine. After earning his bachelor's degree, Blinken reported for The New Republic.[9] He earned his J.D. degree at Columbia Law School in 1988.[10][11] After graduation, he practiced law in New York City and Paris.[9] During the 1988 presidential campaign, Blinken worked with his father Donald in fundraisers for Michael Dukakis.[4]
Career
Clinton and Bush administrations
Blinken has held senior foreign policy positions in two administrations over two decades. He served on the United States National Security Council staff at the White House from 1994 to 2001.[12] From 1994 through 1998 Blinken was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Strategic Planning and NSC Senior Director for Speechwriting.[12] From 1999 to 2001 he was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Canadian Affairs.[13]
In 2002 Blinken was appointed staff director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position he served in until 2008.[12] He was also a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In 2008, Blinken worked for the presidential campaign of Joe Biden,[4] and was a member of the Obama-Biden presidential transition team.[12][14]
He supported the U.S.–led invasion of Iraq in 2003.[15][16]
Obama administration
From 2009 to 2013, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President. In this position he also helped craft U.S. policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Iranian nuclear program.[17][18]
On November 7, 2014, President Obama announced that he would nominate Blinken for the Deputy Secretary post, replacing the retiring William Joseph Burns.[19] On December 16, 2014, Blinken was confirmed as Deputy Secretary of State by the Senate by a vote of 55 to 38.[20]
Of Obama's 2011 decision to kill Osama bin Laden, Blinken said "I've never seen a more courageous decision made by a leader".[21] A 2013 profile described him as "[o]ne of the government's key players in drafting Syria policy",[22] for which he served as a public face.[23]
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Blinken with
Aung San Suu Kyi,
Myanmar's leader, on January 18, 2016
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Blinken meets with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on June 16, 2016
Blinken was pivotal in the formulation of the Obama administration's response to the 2014 Crimean Crisis. In a speech at the Brookings Institution in June 2014, Blinken emphasized that a wide and expansive sanctions regime was critical, focusing on Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle and the Russian public at large.[24] The first prong is necessary to deter oligarchs from risking American-based assets, while the latter prong is necessary to "demonstrate to the Russian people that there is a very hefty fine for supporting international criminals like [Putin]."[24]
Blinken expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[25]
Blinken supported the 2011 military intervention in Libya[26] and the supply of weapons to Syrian rebels.[27]
He condemned the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt and expressed full support for the democratically elected Turkish government and its institutions.[28]
In April 2015, Blinken voiced support for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.[29] He said that "As part of that effort, we have expedited weapons deliveries, we have increased our intelligence sharing, and we have established a joint coordination planning cell in the Saudi operation centre."[30]
Private sector
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Blinken meets with
Sesame Street's character
Grover to talk about refugees at the United Nations in New York City, 2016
In 2017, Blinken co-founded WestExec Advisors, a political strategy advising firm, with Michèle Flournoy, Sergio Aguirre, and Nitin Chadda.[31][32] WestExec's clients have included Google's Jigsaw, Israeli artificial-intelligence company Windward, and "Fortune 100 types."[33] In an interview with The Intercept, Flournoy explained WestExec seeks to employ "people recently coming out of government" with "current knowledge, expertise, contacts, networks."[34]
Blinken is also a partner of private equity firm Pine Island Capital Partners.[35] According to the firm's website, Blinken worked on the D.C. partners team, which works "in tandem with the investment team to source deals, conduct analyses, win bids, close transactions, and directly advise" the firm's portfolio companies.[36] 
ine Island's chairman is John Thain, the final chairman of Merrill Lynch before its sale to Bank of America.[36] Blinken recused himself from Pine Island Capital Partners in 2020 to serve as a senior foreign policy advisor with the Biden campaign.[37]
Blinken is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[38] In a 2016 speech at the CFR, Blinken advocated for internationalist and multilateralist policies.[39]
Biden administration
Blinken was a foreign policy advisor for Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.[40] On June 17, 2020, Blinken said that Biden "would not tie military assistance to Israel to things like annexation or other decisions by the Israeli government with which we might disagree."[41] Blinken praised the Trump administration-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.[25][42]
On July 31, 2020, Blinken discussed the U.S.-China relationship and how former Vice President Joe Biden would handle American foreign policy.[43]
On October 28, 2020, Blinken told the Jewish Insider that a Biden administration plans to "undertake a strategic review" of the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia "to make sure that it is truly advancing our interests and is consistent with our values."[44] Blinken told JI that Biden administration "will continue non-nuclear" sanctions against Iran "as a strong hedge against Iranian misbehavior in other areas."[25] He described China as a competitor to the United States.[45] Blinken said the Trump administration helped China by "weakening American alliances, leaving a vacuum in the world for China to fill, abandoning our values and giving China a green light to trample on human rights and democracy from Xinjiang to Hong Kong".[46]
Blinken described Erdoğan's Turkey as a NATO ally with which the United States will have to "find ways to work more effectively together". He said the U.S. should support Turkey in its fight against the PKK, a Kurdish separatist movement deemed a terrorist organisation by Turkey.[47]
On November 22, 2020, Bloomberg News reported that Biden had selected Blinken as his nominee for Secretary of State;[2] these reports were later corroborated by The New York Times and other outlets.[3][48]
Personal life
In 2002, Blinken married Evan Ryan in a bi-denominational ceremony officiated by a rabbi and priest at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, D.C.[10][4] He is fluent in French.[49] He plays guitar and has two songs available on Spotify by the alias ABlinken.[50]
