Ten Minutes from Normal Relations

Former White House counselor and Bush campaign advisor Karen Hughes "will take over the Bush administration's troubled public diplomacy effort intended to burnish the U.S. image abroad, particularly in the Muslim world." The Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs position at the State Department, previously held by Margaret Tutwiler and Charlotte Beers, uses "exchange programs, foreign language media and other initiatives ... to promote American values" while "combating negative images." Hughes will be assisted by Dina Powell, the current White House Chief of Personnel and "an American of Egyptian descent who speaks fluent Arabic."