Anne Woods Patterson is an American diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer. She served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2013 to 2017. She previously served as United States Ambassador to Egypt until 2013 and as United States Ambassador to Pakistan from July 2007 to October 2010.
William Rivington Brownfield is a Career Ambassador in the United States Foreign Service and the former Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs as of January 10, 2011. He has previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Chile, Venezuela, and Colombia.
The counselor of the United States Department of State is a position within the United States Department of State that serves the secretary of state as a special advisor and consultant on major problems of foreign policy and who provides guidance to the appropriate bureaus with respect to such matters. The counselor conducts special international negotiations and consultations, and also undertakes special assignments from time to time, as directed by the secretary of state. Currently, the counselor holds under law a rank equivalent to that of under secretary of state. Unlike the other under secretaries of state, the counselor currently does not require Senate confirmation. Historically, the role was appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the United States Senate as authorized by 22 U.S. Code § 2651a as one of four "other senior officials."
Thomas Alfred Shannon Jr. is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2016 to 2018. In early 2017, Shannon served as acting United States Secretary of State until President Donald Trump's nominee, Rex Tillerson, was confirmed. He was also acting Deputy Secretary of State of the United States until the Senate confirmed President Trump's nominee, John J. Sullivan.
Anne Elizabeth Derse is an American diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan from 2006 to 2009 and Lithuania from 2009 to 2012.
The Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism is an office of the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the United States Department of State. The office "advances U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism" by developing and implementing policies and projects to support efforts to combat antisemitism.
Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino, the 11th President of the Philippines, died on August 1, 2009, at the Makati Medical Center in Makati of cardiorespiratory arrest after being in hospital since June 2009, and was first diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2008.
U.S. President Barack Obama's East Asia Strategy (2009–2017), also known as the Pivot to Asia, represented a significant shift in the foreign policy of the United States since the 2010s. It shifted the country's focus away from the Middle Eastern and European sphere and allowed it to invest heavily and build relationships in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, especially countries which are in close proximity to the People's Republic of China (PRC) either economically, geographically or politically to counter its rise as a rival potential superpower.
Harry Keels Thomas Jr. is an American diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe.
Jo Ellen Powell is a career member of the United States Foreign Service who served as Consul General in Frankfurt, Germany and was nominated as the US ambassador to Mauritania by Barack Obama on July 15, 2010. She has been known in Frankfurt for her active engagement with Germany's Muslim community, as well as with students, through the "Windows on America" program. Prior to that Powell was the executive director of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, director of the Office of Employee Relations, and management counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia. Powell has also served in France, Italy, Lebanon, and Jordan. She is married to Stephen Engelken, also a career diplomat and current deputy chief of mission to Islamabad in Pakistan, with whom she has a son.
John Joseph Sullivan is an American attorney and government official who served as the United States Ambassador to Russia from 2020 to 2022, and who previously served as the 19th United States Deputy Secretary of State from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Sullivan served as Acting United States Secretary of State from April 1, 2018, to April 26, 2018, following President Donald Trump's dismissal of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 13, 2018, until Tillerson's official successor, Mike Pompeo, was sworn in. Tillerson did not officially leave office until March 31, 2018. Sullivan, however, was delegated all responsibilities of the Secretary of State beginning March 13.
Paul Wayne Jones is an American diplomat who was the United States Chargé d'affaires to Pakistan and the former United States Ambassador to Poland. Prior to that, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State and earlier he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia. He arrived in Warsaw, Poland, and began serving as ambassador on September 24, 2015. He is widely regarded as one of the Foreign Service's only senior experts on both Europe and East Asia.
Mary Burce Warlick is an Australian-born, American diplomat who was appointed Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency in May 2021. A former United States career diplomat, she served as the United States Ambassador to Serbia from January 2010 to September 2012, as the U.S. Consul General in Melbourne, Australia from October 2012 to July 2014, as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Energy Resources at the Department of State from August 2014 to September 2017, and as Acting Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs from January to September 2017.
Sung Yong Kim is an American diplomat of Korean descent who has served as the United States Special Representative for North Korea Policy since 2021, and previously from 2014 to 2016. He has also served as the acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from January to June 2021.
The Secretary's Distinguished Service Award is an award of the United States Department of State. It is presented at the discretion of the Secretary of State in recognition of exceptionally outstanding leadership, professional competence, and significant accomplishment over a sustained period of time in the field of foreign affairs. Such achievements must be of notable national or international significance and have made an important contribution to the advancement of U.S. national interests.
Joseph Yuosang Yun is an American diplomat. He is the former U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations, appointed in March 2022 by President Joe Biden to negotiate amendments to the Compact of Free Association (CFA), the agreement governing the relationship between the United States and the Freely Associated States (FAS) of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Palau.
The Foreign Affairs Policy Board is an advisory board that provides independent advice and opinion to the secretary of state, the deputy secretary of state, and the director of policy planning on matters concerning U.S. foreign policy. The board reviews and assesses global threats and opportunities, trends that implicate core national security interests, tools and capacities of the civilian foreign affairs agencies, and priorities and strategic frameworks for U.S. foreign policy. The board meets in a plenary session several times a year at the U.S. Department of State in the Harry S. Truman Building.
Mary Catherine "Molly" Phee is an American diplomat who has served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs since September 2021. She previously served as the U.S. ambassador to South Sudan from 2015 to 2017. She is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of minister counselor.
MaryKay Loss Carlson is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to the Philippines since 2022. She was previously the United States chargé d'affaires in Argentina from 2021 to 2022, after having served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the country from September 2019.
