Extreme UN Makeover

"The United Nations is looking for a well-connected Washington figure to head its information office," reports the Financial Times, "as part of a wide-ranging image makeover to improve relations with Congress." The "makeover" began earlier this month, when Kofi Annan named Mark Malloch Brown, former PR consultant to Corazon Aquino and the Government of Colombia at the Sawyer Miller Group, as his chief of staff. "The UN had previously resisted following the 'revolving door' model of Washington lobbying," but now hopes to recruit "an influential advocate with Capitol Hill experience who 'understands how Washington works, can make calls, and get those calls answered,'" to defuse strong congressional criticism.