From W.N.Y.C. in New York, this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Brooke Gladstone.

And I'm Bob Garfield. This week, in advance of the second George W. Bush administration,

the White House began that storied post-election dance known as the Cabinet Shuffle. One of the biggest

changes, of course, was the resignation of Secretary of State Colin Powell, who for many on the left

was considered one of the administration's very few voices of reason.

Then the president announced his choice for a replacement, Condoleezza Rice.

Rice will be the first African American woman to serve as America's face to the world,

and it solidifies her position as one of the most powerful women on the face of the Earth.

Well, if that's the case, we thought Martin Walker should tell us what the earth thinks.

Martin is editor-in-chief of United Press International, and he joins us often to review

headlines from around the globe.

Martin, welcome once again.

Hello there.

Let's start with Colin Powell. How did they react to his resignation?

The broad view, certainly in Europe, was that Europe loses a friend. Germany's D'Eveld, which is a fairly

conservative newspaper and often very supportive of President Bush said, for Europeans, the American

Secretary of State was the John Kerry of the Bush administration, the last hope on that side of the Atlantic,

and a man who

stood for a reasonable and measured foreign policy.

Taggart Spiegel and other German paper said, Powell was the only class act in the Bush administration,

the only person who would be missed on both sides of the Atlantic, the only man in the Bush's team

on whom the Europeans felt they could count.

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