photo credit: sskennel

Over at Foreign Policy’s fantastic Madam Secretary blog, which tracks the every move of the new Secretary of State, we find out that today will see the first tête-à-tête between Hillary Rodham Clinton and UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband.  The UK’s role in Afghanistan will be high on the agenda and Milliband will be the first foreign envoy with whom Clinton meets.  Don’t underestimate the importance of these kinds of gestures in the tetchy world of diplomacy…!  It’ll be interesting to see whether the ‘Special Relationship’ prevails under a President much more ambivalent to the UK than his two immediate predecessors.

Indeed, in other HRC news, the mystery du jour of Hillary’s first foreign trip has been solved: it’s South East Asia.  An interesting chance to combine a staunch ally (Japan), economic rival (China) and pressing geostrategic planning (Korea) in one bout of shuttle diplomacy.

Update: warm words at the presser.  In the video from State.gov: Miliband is beaming, although I think the visuals might be a little off – someone move those podia further apart so he’s not just staring her down!  I think what comes out in this direct contrast is the sheer stature of a statesperson like Clinton, arguably incompatible with parliamentary government.  Germany up next, but Kouchner is to wait till the end of the week: scheduling conflict or the lingering effect of those Freedom Fries?!