Suzanne Nossel Named Executive Director of Amnesty International USA

Suzanne Nossel, who was until recently a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations and is currently a Visiting Senior Fellow for Global Governance at the Council of Foreign Relations, has been named the new Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. (I should note that Suzanne is an old friend.)  Here’s part of what the Amnesty press release said:

Most recently, Nossel served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, where she was responsible for multilateral human rights, humanitarian affairs, women’s issues, public diplomacy, press and Congressional relations. In that capacity, Nossel played a leading role in U.S. engagement at the U.N. Human Rights Council, including the initiation of human rights resolutions on Iran, Syria, Libya, Cote d’Ivoire, freedom of association and freedom of expression. Prior to that, she served as Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights Watch. Nossel previously served as deputy to the Ambassador for U.N. Management and Reform at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. She has also worked as a vice president at Bertelsmann Media Worldwide and The Wall Street Journal and as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and has been a fellow and scholar at the Century Foundation, the Center for American Progress and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Besides these accomplishments, Suzanne is also known for popularizing the term “smart power” in a 2004 Foreign Affairs article (see also this). And she was an early entrant in the international relations blogosphere, founding Democracy Arsenal.  As for next steps, the Amnesty International release states that:

Nossel will use her extensive and varied skills and experience to shape Amnesty International’s work in mobilizing the United States on behalf of human rights issues at home and abroad. AIUSA partners with and defends activists in the Middle East and North Africa who are bravely demanding their rights; Amnesty is also at the forefront of advocacy on critical human rights issues in the United States – including immigration, health care, the death penalty, corporate abuses, and respect for civil liberties in the context of national security

An excellent choice for helming Amnesty; I think she will do great things there. Congratulations, Suzanne!