GREEN RIVER -- Growing up in Torrington in the 1970s, Michael Punke says he had two real passions -- Western history and international trade.

He's satisfied his love of Western history as a successful best-selling author, penning three acclaimed books about the West.

His passion for international trade will get tested soon if he's confirmed as the new U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization.

President Barack Obama has nominated Punke, a former senior trade official in the Clinton administration, to serve as U.S. ambassador and permanent representative to the WTO.

Punke has worked in international trade law and policy for two decades, including a two-year stint in the White House under former President Bill Clinton.

The nomination must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Punke, 44, would serve at the pleasure of the president.

The Senate Finance Committee will hold confirmation hearings on the nomination, but no date has been set. If the committee recommends his nomination, a full vote in the Senate would then be scheduled.

The WTO is the world's most influential trade body and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Basically, the WTO is a place where member governments go to sort out trade problems between each other.

Punke would oversee trade litigation, negotiate trade agreements and settle trade disputes between the U.S and the 153 other WTO member countries.

Punke would also manage the day-to-day negotiations in the long-running Doha round of world talks that are currently taking place in New Dehli, India.

"I am extremely honored that President Obama has nominated me for this position and I really look forward to working hard trying to win Senate confirmation," Punke said in a telephone interview from his home in Missoula, Mont.

"It is a huge challenge and there are issues that a lot of smart people have been looking at for a long time," he said. "But I'm terribly excited about it."

Punke is familiar with the U.S. trade representative's office -- which oversees the position of ambassador to the WTO -- after serving several years as a senior policy advisor in the office in the mid-1990s .

Most recently, he's been pursing a career as a novelist and history writer.

He wrote one novel, "The Revenant," and two nonfiction books, "Fire and Brimstone: the North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917" and "Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West."

Punke also works as an adjunct professor at the University of Montana and has penned two screenplays.

Torrington native

Punke was born in Lovell and grew up in Torrington, where he attended high school.

"I got a great education in Wyoming," he said. "I learned how to write and I learned how to debate and those are obviously skills that will be important in this job."

He earned his undergraduate degree in International Affairs from George Washington University.

He graduated from Cornell Law School, where he specialized in International Legal Affairs, and served as the editor-in-chief of the Cornell International Law Journal.

Punke began his government career in 1991, serving as international trade counsel to Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

Baucus is the current chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and was serving as chairman of the Finance Committee's International Trade Subcommittee when Punke was his trade counsel.

From 1993 to 1995, Punke served at the White House as Director for International Economic Affairs, with a joint appointment to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council.

Then from 1995-96, he was a Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of the United States Trade Representative. He also was a former partner in a Washington law firm.

Punke is married to Traci, a native of Livingston, Mont.

The couple has two children, Sophie and Bo. His parents still live in Torrington.

Punke said he will bring something of a Western perspective to the post if confirmed by the Senate. He noted many parallels between Wyoming and Montana's history and international trade issues.

"I have been interested in this stuff for a long time ... I had two real passions as a kid, for Western history and for international affairs," he said.

"When you look at the early part of Western American history, it's all about international trade," Punke said.

"The reason that President Jefferson sent explorers out here in the first place was to try and compete for the international fur trade ... he was worried about the British and both countries wanted to trade with China," he continued. "So those (WTO) issues are closer to Wyoming and Montana than they might appear at first blush."

Punke said he expects the job to include the day-to-day management of trade disputes and disagreements. But he also expects to be involved in negotiations as the WTO attempts to expand the areas of world trade covered by the organization's rules.

"One example of areas where there's lots of work to be done is in agriculture, which is certainly an area that's important for both Montana and Wyoming and which is near and dear to my heart," Punke said.

"Exports are incredibly important to states like Montana and Wyoming with their small populations."

"Whether it's our wheat or cattle or our metals or our manufacturing goods ... we depend on foreign markets to be able to sell those goods," Punke added. "What we're hoping to achieve with the WTO is to create more opportunities for selling those goods overseas."

Uniquely suited

U.S. Trade Representative Ronald Kirk praised Punke's nomination in a media release and said he was well-qualified for the job.

Kirk said Punke's "breadth of experience and considerable leadership skills" will serve him well if confirmed, particularly when he joins the WTO's eight-year process of negotiations over trade rules known as the Doha Development Round.

"Punke is uniquely suited to lead the USTR's team at the WTO, particularly at this critical time in the Doha Development Round of trade negotiations," Kirk said.

Punke's nomination follows the recent departure of ambassador Peter Allgeier, who has served as ambassador to the WTO since 2005 and in the Office of the United States Trade Representative since 1980.

Kirk said David Shark, deputy chief of the United States Mission to the WTO, is serving as interim charge d'affaires at the mission pending Punke's confirmation.

Punke's nomination was one of two announced by President Obama on Sept. 4. He also named former Discovery Channel executive Barbara J. Bennett as his nominee for chief financial officer at the Environmental Protection Agency.

"The dedication and talent of these individuals will be tremendously valuable to my administration as we work to tackle our challenges at home and abroad," Obama said. "I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years."

Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com