Kerry’s three challenges as secretary of state
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Obtain adequate funding from Congress.
A primary task for Kerry is securing increased congressional support so the State Department can carry out increased diplomatic missions and the economic aid programs that are essential to sustain a viable foreign policy.

Avoid war in the Middle East.
Kerry’s first diplomatic mission abroad was to the Middle East, with visits to Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and several Gulf states. His agenda: how to prevent Syria’s civil war from escalating into a major Middle East conflict; how to reassure Persian Gulf countries that Washington will not accept a nuclear-armed Iran; how to bolster Egypt’s faltering economy and political stability.

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» Build support in the White House.

Kerry knows that his success as secretary depends heavily on his relationship with the president and that many of his predecessors failed in that regard.
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Kerry faces a major challenge in working with Obama’s White House aides, because their primary objective is ensuring that Obama’s foreign policy preferences are implemented. Denis McDonough, the new White House chief of staff, was promoted from a senior position on the National Security Council staff. He and Thomas Donilon, Obama’s top national security adviser (the post Kissinger occupied), have long been confidantes of Obama and will keep a check on the state department’s operations in foreign policy.
Relations between the state department and defense department have often been contentious, depending on the personalities of their secretaries. When Donald Rumsfeld ran the defense department under George W. Bush, the role of Secretary of State Colin Powell was circumscribed both by Rumsfeld’s domineering personality and Bush’s emphasis on military action after the events of September 2001. In contrast, relations between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and two defense secretaries, Robert Gates and Leon Panetta, in Obama’s first term were good.
Kerry is well-qualified to serve as Obama’s secretary of state, but he needs to have the president’s confidence as he works to restore America’s diminished influence abroad.
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