A Matter of Trust

The White House today announced the nomination of Rose Gottemoeller for the position of assistant secretary of state for verification and compliance.

"Turning the tide on the threat of nuclear weapons and strengthening the international non-proliferation regime is one of the great and urgent challenges of our time," President Obama said in a statement. "Rose Gottemoeller’s extraordinary commitment and expertise make her a valuable addition to the State Department and my national security team as we renew American diplomacy to create a more secure world."

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Karin Look has run the office in an acting capacity since former verification and compliance bureau chief Paula DeSutter left, according to the State Department.

Gottemoeller is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment; before that, she served as deputy under secretary for defense nuclear non-proliferation in the Energy Department.

According to a State Department fact sheet:

The ((Verification and Compliance)) Bureau's core missions are to ensure that appropriate verification requirements and capabilities are fully considered and properly integrated throughout the development, negotiation, and implementation of arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament agreements and commitments and to ensure that other countries' compliance is carefully watched, rigorously assessed, appropriately reported, and resolutely enforced. In this regard, the Bureau is responsible for preparing the President's annual report to Congress on Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments. The Bureau is further required to prepare verifiability assessments on proposals and agreements, and to report these to Congress, as required. The Bureau also prepares the President's semi-annual Iran, North Korea, Syria Nonproliferation Report to Congress, which identifies entities that engage in the transfer of controlled items to and from Iran, North Korea, and Syria and authorizes the imposition of sanctions against these entities.