Will Mumbai born Fareed Zakaria be the next Secretary of State? There were rumors to that effect in the early days of the Bush administration. They died after Zakaria became critical of the way the President handled the war in Iraq. But the rumors are alive again and, this time, the Yale and Harvard educated editor of Newsweek International and member of the roundtable on ABC News' This Week with George Stephanapoulos is commenting on the issue.

There are indications that Zakaria is a supporter of Illinois Senator Barack Obama. He is 'unique', Zakaria was recently quoted as saying by MarketWatch's Jon Friedman.

And what makes him so unique? The fact that the Senator has lived a good part of his life abroad. 'That's a big deal', Zakaria told Friedman. 'We don't understand how we come across in the rest of the world.' When Friedman asked Zakaria the straight question -- whether he would accept a White House appointment -- he answered: 'I'd always be intrigued. But again, it's unlikely and I'll die happily if I never have a White House pass.'

		fact In 1999, he was named 'one of the 21 most important people of the 21st Century' by Esquire. He has won two Overseas Press Club Awards with Newsweek reporting teams and has been nominated for two National Magazine Awards.
	Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images

Zakaria is the son of the late Indian politician Rafiq Zakaria and former Sunday Times of India editor Fatma Zakaria. Before Newsweek, he served as managing editor, Foreign Affairs. One of the highlights of his career was his award-winning 7,000-word, post-9/11 Newsweek cover story 'Why Do They Hate Us?', lauded for its puncturing of knee-jerk explanations that blamed Islamic religious intolerance.

Zakaria once commented that each time ABC shows his face on its Sunday talk show, a large percentage of Americans shut off their television sets or change channels. If he is offered a White House position in the next administration, he may be the senior-most Indian American in government. Ever. Not bad for a man who is also the senior-most Indian-American journalist in the country.

As a journalist fronting one of the world’s most respected publications, his eye firmly fixed on the goings-on in the world, Fareed Zakaria occupies a position like no other.