Washington, D.C. ? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has decided to appoint a leading critic of the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq as a senior aide, the State Department said Friday.

Deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Eliot Cohen, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, will replace Philip Zelikow as counselor of the department.

The appointment of Cohen, a conservative, follows the departure from the Bush administration of U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and arms control under secretary Bob Joseph, both known for their hawkish views.