Gideon Rachman's blog: Visit the vast bureaucracies of the Pentagon or the State Department and "under-staffed" is not the first word that springs to mind. But - in fact - as the Obama administration grapples with the world, it is short of key people in vital areas.

Take North Korea: the US's special envoy for North Korea is Stephen Bosworth, but he is only a part-timer. He divides his time between the State Department and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston, where he is the dean. The lead State Department official should be Kurt Campbell, Obama's nominee for assistant secretary of state for Asia - but almost six months into the administration, he has yet to be confirmed by the Senate.