Pakistan made news today appointing the first
female foreign minister in the country's history. But there is something
else ground-breaking about Hina Rabbani Khar -- her age. At 34, she is the
youngest foreign minister in the world. In fact, there are only a handful of other
chief diplomats under age 40.
Below, a list of a some top diplomats who also happen to be members of Generation X.
Maxim Gvinjia (age 35) -- Abkhazia
Before being appointed foreign minister in
February, 2010 of the breakaway territory (which is considered by many
nations to be a part of Georgia), Gvinjia served as deputy foreign minister
since 2004. He's been involved in high level diplomacy with major international
consequences since his mid 20s.
Antonio Milošoski
(age 35) -- Republic of Macedonia
He's been foreign minister since August, 2006,
meaning he was only 30 when he took office. But then, he was the government's chief spokesman
when he was just 24 years old.
Aurelia Frick
(age 36) -- Liechtenstein
Back in March, 2009, not only was she given control
of the foreign ministry, she was also appointed head of the ministries of
justice and cultural affairs. Of course, there are only
35,000 people in the country, so maybe it's not that shocking that
government ministers have to triple up.
Vuk Jeremi
(age 36)-- Serbia
Since his appointment in May, 2007, Jeremi has conducted a foreign policy "on
steroids," according
to the Economist. Early on, most
of his diplomacy had to do with trying to dissuade other nations from
recognizing an independent Kosovo, which Serbia sees as part of its territory. He's
also pushed for better relations with the United States.
Urmas Paet
(age 37) -- Estonia
Another diplomatic wunderkind, Paet assumed office
in April, 2005 at the tender age of 31.
He was a journalist before entering politics in 1999 and speaks five languages.
When he's not accusing
Russia of waging cyber war, he does show his age every once in while, like
when he parachuted out of
a plane (we haven't seen William Hague do that recently).
Carolyn Allison Rodrigues-Birkett
(age 37) -- Guyana
Even before she became foreign minister in April,
2008, Rodriques was known as
the "iron woman" of Guyana for her relentlessness in pushing through
projects in remote parts of the country, to help out indigenous communities
(she was previously minister for indigenous affairs, a position she was
appointed to in her mid-20s).
Roosevelt Skerrit (age 39)-- Dominica
You can't exactly call Skerrit a slacker. Upon
taking over as prime minister in 2004, he also appointed himself foreign
minister and finance minister. Skerrit is the second youngest head of state
in the world, behind Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina.
Nickolay Mladenov (age 39) -- Bulgaria
With a background serving in international
organizations like the Open Society and the World Bank, Mladenov entered
parliament in 2001, before his 30th birthday. He was appointed foreign
minister last year.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan al
Nahyan (age 39)-- United
Arab Emirates
The son of the founder of the UAE, Sheikh al Nahyan
is a key advisor to the country's current leader (who happens to be his older
half brother). Other older brothers serve as the crown prince and deputy prime
ministers. In the foreign ministry since February, 2006, al Nahyan's vigorous
diplomacy caused a bit of a stir last year, when a Wikileaks cable revealed he
had developed a "good
and personal relationship" with his Israeli counterpart at the time, Tzipi
Livni. The cable said, they would not "do in public what they say behind closed
doors."
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