KUALA LUMPUR (July 22): Joshua Harris, a polyglot career diplomat, has been nominated as the next US Ambassador to Malaysia.

The nomination has been sent to the US Senate, according to a White House statement. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will conduct hearings, review background investigations, and question the nominee before voting and confirmation.

The latest pick follows the scuttled candidacy of Australian-American political influencer Nick Adams as envoy to Malaysia. He is best known for promoting US President Donald Trump and the "alpha male" hyper-masculinity culture that lacks scientific or biological basis.

However, his nomination had sparked protest in Malaysia for his criticism of Islam and support for Israel.

Harris, meanwhile, is the current deputy assistant secretary for the North Africa bureau covering Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia, according to his biography on the US Department of State. His other overseas assignments have included Slovenia, Iraq, Libya, and Croatia.

He is a graduate of the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Harris speaks Arabic, Croatian, French, Italian, Polish, and Slovenian.

If confirmed, Haris will step into a position left vacant since February following the retirement of Edgard D Kagan from the US Foreign Service. Kagan, an appointee of former president Joe Biden, arrived in Malaysia in December 2023.