Forty-seven-year-old Los Angeles attorney Nina Hachigian, whom US President Barack Obama had appointed as the US Ambassador to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), has assumed her position, Asbarez reported.

Hachigian is a specialist in American policy in Asia. She was a senior political scientist at RAND Corporation and served as the director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy for four years. She is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. From 1998 to 1999, Hachigian was on the staff of the National Security Council in the White House. Earlier, she was an attorney-advisor to the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission.

With her diplomatic residence in Indonesia, Nina Hachigian will be in charge for US relations with the ten most influential South Asian States. In November, she will attend the ASEA countries’ meeting with President Obama.