Obama Nominates Lawyer as United States Ambassador to Asean

16/11/2010
Source: The Jakartaglobe

United States President Barack Obama on Monday asked the Senate to confirm New York lawyer David Carden as his long-awaited ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Obama sent his nomination to the Senate nearly a month after a US-ASEAN summit in New York, where the president said the group had the potential for true world leadership, pressing home his plan of rebuilding US power in the dynamic region.

He originally announced his nomination on Tuesday but did not send it to the Senate until Monday, after returning from a trip to Asia.

Carden, a top fundraiser for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, is currently a partner at international law firm Jones Day, which has over 30 offices around the world, including seven in Asia.

According to his professional biography, he has represented clients from Indonesia, Singapore, China, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, among others.

He has also represented major clients in some of the biggest securities fraud class actions ever litigated, including collapsed US investment bank Lehman Brothers during the Enron litigation over corporate fraud.

Carden co-chairs the firm’s Securities Litigation & SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) Enforcement Practice.

He obtained his law degree from Indiana University, where he serves on the board of visitors for the School of Law, and completed his undergraduate studies at DePauw University in Indiana.

The 10 nations of ASEAN form the fourth biggest export market for the United States.

Former president George W. Bush named veteran Scot Marciel as the first US ambassador to ASEAN in 2008. Obama recently tapped Marciel to become US ambassador to Indonesia, a key priority for the administration.

The Obama administration has repeatedly called for greater engagement with Southeast Asia and pledged to attend ASEAN meetings, accusing the Bush team of neglecting the region due to its preoccupation with Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama said he would attend the East Asia Summit next year in Jakarta as he presses home a strategy of enhancing US influence in the dynamic region.

ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The East Asia summit groups ASEAN with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.


Agence France-Presse