Some people in the ego-driven city of Washington see Paal as remote, off-putting and sometimes arrogant. But they say these impressions quickly disappear once people get to know him.
"For a lot of people in and outside of the administration, one of the problems Doug has is, because he has a rather subtle view of all things, it is often unclear to people where he really stands, and that's politically bad -- although it may be that that's not such a bad thing for a diplomat," one colleague said.
Within Taiwan, there are many people who view his appointment with displeasure.
"Some Taiwan friends have come to me in panic and I don't think the people in Taiwan are crazy about him," one source said.
In his new role at AIT, Paal's style might make some in Taiwan nervous.
"My guess is that he'll be tough on the people of Taiwan," said Arthur Waldron, the director of Asian studies at both the University of Pennsylvania and the American Enterprise Institute think tank.
"He'd say, `Look, are you getting your army in order, are you getting your intelligence in order, have you got too many layers of bureaucracy, are you cleaning up this, are you doing that?'
"I think he would greatly improve our understanding on what's going on in Taiwan society because he would insist on having good reporting on all the different stuff that's going on.
"In a sense, this would represent unwelcome pressure on certain vested interests. But, of course, in adversity there has always been [a good aspect] for Taiwan," said Waldron, who has known Paal since the two were roommates in graduate school.
"I think Doug would put their feet to the fire, but I think that may not be such a bad thing. And I don't think he would sell them out," Waldron told the Taipei Times.
David Brown, who worked with Paal in his Washington-based think tank, the Asia Pacific Policy Center, says that Paal is "well within the mainstream of American foreign policy" toward Taiwan.
"If you're a rabid advocate of Taiwan independence, you're not going to be happy with any American appointed, but certainly not with Doug Paal, because he doesn't support that," Brown says.
"Doug has a very balanced view on the controversial issues of our relations with China. He does want to see a strong, constructive US relationship with China. But, like many people, he doesn't see that as something that's going to come about because we're sacrificing our interests in Taiwan.
"He travels to Taiwan frequently. He knows the people there very well. They know him, I think they trust him and I think it's absolutely the right kind of appointment for us to be making," Brown says.
Paal's effectiveness at AIT, where he will be the steward of US policy toward Taiwan, will also be enhanced by his personal ties with several senior foreign-policy advisers in the Bush administration, many of whom worked for Bush's father during his presidency, Brown says.
These include Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, senior National Security Council Asia expert Torkel Patterson and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly.
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