Wess Mitchell and the musical chairs in the Trump foreign policy team

When Donald Trump nominated Wess Mitchell to serve as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs in July of 2017, the American press and foreign policy community had spent months being extremely critical of the US president for leaving such a key post vacant for so long. Given tensions with Russia and Turkey, and European allies' concerns about America's commitment to NATO, people wondered how the Trump administration could navigate all of these issues without the post of the official that traditionally ran point on them being filled.

This week, after just 16 months on the job, Mitchell announced his resignation, citing personal reasons and adding that he was "fully supportive" of the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. "My kids have a greater claim to my time right now than the public does," he said. It is hard - and often unfair - to dispute someone...