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Obama's Crew Abounds With Expats

Experiences abroad make for good policies at home, advisers say

By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 18, 2009 7:44 PM CST
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(Newser) – If you’re seeking a job in the Obama administration, you may want to get out more—way out, Newsweek reports. Like the president-elect, many of his advisers have lived in other countries. Top aide Valerie Jarrett was born in Iran and has traveled widely, mixing with Europeans, Arabs, and Latin Americans. Such travels make her "more open to different perspectives," Jarrett said.

Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner grew up abroad, as did a candidate for overseeing NASA, who says living among Africans helped him “see them as individuals.” Team Obama may reflect a US trend: Americans working and studying abroad exceeded 241,000 in 2006-07, more than double the decade before. Still, only 22% of Americans actually have passports.

In this Sept. 29, 2008 file photo, Barack Obama steps off the plane with senior advisor Valerie Jarrett at the airport in Denver, Colo.
In this Sept. 29, 2008 file photo, Barack Obama steps off the plane with senior advisor Valerie Jarrett at the airport in Denver, Colo.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
You have to be able to look at the same problem through different prisms to be successful in the international environment, said James L. Jones, incoming national security adviser.
"You have to be able to look at the same problem through different prisms to be successful in the international environment," said James L. Jones, incoming national security adviser.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Valerie Jarrett is a close personal friend of the Obamas' who will serve as a top domestic-policy adviser. She was born in Shiraz, Iran.
Valerie Jarrett is a close personal friend of the Obamas' who will serve as a top domestic-policy adviser. She was born in Shiraz, Iran.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
A surprising number of Barack Obama's advisers grew up in other countries, Newsweek says.
A surprising number of Barack Obama's advisers grew up in other countries, Newsweek says.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Obama has identified his years in Indonesia, and later travels in Pakistan, as critical to shaping his views on America's role in the world.
Obama has identified his years in Indonesia, and later travels in Pakistan, as critical to shaping his views on America's role in the world.   (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
President-elect Barack Obama boards his plane at Midway Airport in Chicago, Dec. 1, 2008, on his way to Philadelphia.
President-elect Barack Obama boards his plane at Midway Airport in Chicago, Dec. 1, 2008, on his way to Philadelphia.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. walks up the steps as he boards the plane in Jacksonville, Fla. Monday, Nov. 3, 2008.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. walks up the steps as he boards the plane in Jacksonville, Fla. Monday, Nov. 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Valerie Jarrett is a close personal friend of the Obamas' who will serve as a top domestic-policy adviser. She was born in Shiraz, Iran.
Valerie Jarrett is a close personal friend of the Obamas' who will serve as a top domestic-policy adviser. She was born in Shiraz, Iran.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Valerie Jarrett is a close personal friend of the Obamas' who will serve as a top domestic-policy adviser. She was born in Shiraz, Iran.
Valerie Jarrett is a close personal friend of the Obamas' who will serve as a top domestic-policy adviser. She was born in Shiraz, Iran.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
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The benefit of my life of having both lived overseas and traveled overseas is I have a better sense of how they're thinking and what their society is really like. - Barack Obama

When you grow up as I did, surrounded by Africans, you see them as individuals—the kids I grew up with, the kids I played soccer with, [the people with whom] I went and ate around the fires. - Scott Gration, foreign affairs adviser

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In globalized world, America is schizophrenic
Associated Press

 
Barack Obama • Travel • adviser • Americans • James Jones • expatriates • passport • Valerie Jarrett • Scott Gration • Timothy Geithner

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