Middle East expert Donald Blome is new US Ambassador to Pakistan

Donald Armin Blome, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service belonging to the class of minister-counsellor, is currently the US ambassador to Tunisia. 

Prior to that, Ambassador Blome was chargé d'affaires at the Libya External Office in Tunisia, consul general at the US Consulate in Jerusalem, and director of the Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the US Department of State. 

He has also served as political counsellor at the US Embassy in Kabul and minister-counsellor for economic and political affairs at the US Embassy in Cairo. Earlier in his career, Ambassador Blome served as the civilian co-director at the Multinational Force Strategic Engagement Cell, Baghdad, political counsellor at the US Embassy Kuwait, and as Israel desk officer, deputy director and acting director at the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs. 

His nomination follows the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, which caused the collapse of the US-backed government in Kabul and forced Washington to move its diplomatic mission to Doha, Qatar. 

The US embassy in Islamabad is also expected to play a major role in limiting China's rapidly growing political and economic influence in Pakistan, the report said. 

All ambassadorial positions in the US require Senate confirmation.