Joseph McMillan reportedly will be principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, under Assistant Secretary Sandy Vershbow. McMillan has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including a recent U.S. Institute of Peace report. He had experience managing U.S. security policy toward the Near East and South Asia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, when he served for three years in the Clinton Administrtion as principal director of the Near Eastern regional office from 1998-2001.