Today, the world found out that Susan Rice will be the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations. What we also found out is that, as U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Rice will be a part of Barack Obama's cabinet, answering the important question of where the UN will rank within the Administration.

From the New York Times:

To reinforce his intention to work more closely with the United Nations after the tensions of President Bush's tenure, Mr. Obama plans to restore the ambassador's post to cabinet rank, as it was under President Bill Clinton, according to Democrats close to the transition.

This means that UN issues will be handled at the highest levels of the American Administration, and the Obama team recognizes how crucial the UN is to resolving the growing mountain of transnational issues that will await him at his desk on January 21st.

UPDATE: The One Campaign blog has an excellent selection of choice quotes from Susan Rice.