Winston Lord is a retired American diplomat. As Special Assistant to the National Security Advisor and then as Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State, Lord was a close adviser to Henry A. Kissinger and was instrumental in bringing about the renormalization of U.S.-China relations in the 1970s.
The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C. The school also maintains campuses in Bologna, Italy and Nanjing, China.
Robert Dean Blackwill is a retired American diplomat, author, senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, and lobbyist. Blackwill served as the United States Ambassador to India under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003 and as United States National Security Council Deputy for Iraq from 2003 to 2004, where he was a liaison between Paul Bremer and Condoleezza Rice.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a U.S. federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF's principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress.
Husain Haqqani is a Pakistani journalist, academic, political activist, and former ambassador of Pakistan to Sri Lanka and the United States.
The Elliott School of International Affairs is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It is highly ranked in international affairs and is the largest school of international relations in the United States.
Karl Frederick Inderfurth is an American diplomat. He was the assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs from August 1997 to January 2001. In his capacity as assistant secretary, Inderfurth was responsible for US policy regarding Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Prior to his appointment as assistant secretary, Inderfurth served as the U.S. representative for special political affairs to the United Nations, with the rank of ambassador. In this capacity, he dealt with issues such as UN peacekeeping, disarmament, nuclear proliferation and security affairs. Inderfurth also served as deputy U.S. representative on the United Nations Security Council.
M. Osman Siddique is an American politician, former ambassador, and author. He served as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Fiji and to the Republic of Nauru, to the Kingdom of Tonga and to Tuvalu from 1999 to 2001. He was the US Ambassador during the 2000 Fijian coup d'état. Siddique is the first American Muslim to be appointed as an Ambassador from the United States.
Sada Cumber or Sada Kunbhar a Pakistani–American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and diplomat. He is an expert on US foreign policy and national security issues. In 2008, President George W. Bush named him the first U.S. special Envoy to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which promotes Muslim solidarity in social and political affairs. In that capacity, Cumber advanced United States interests among the OIC's 57 members nations, including promoting mutual understanding and dialogue while combating intolerance, extremism and the conditions which create it.
Herro Kader Mustafa Garg is a Kurdish-American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Egypt since November 2023. She served as the United States ambassador to Bulgaria from October 2019 to March 2023.
Rose Eilene Gottemoeller is an American diplomat who served as Deputy Secretary General of NATO from October 2016 to October 2019 under Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Before then she was the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security at the U.S. State Department.
Shamila N. Chaudhary is an American foreign policy expert and academic who is the Senior South Asia Fellow at New America and senior advisor to Dean Vali Nasr at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She specializes in U.S. counterterrorism and national security issues, U.S.-Pakistan relations, Pakistan internal politics, and regional issues in South Asia.
Derek James Mitchell is an American diplomat with extensive experience in Asia policy. He was appointed by President Barack Obama as the first special representative and policy coordinator for Burma with rank of ambassador, and was sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on October 2, 2011. On June 29, 2012, the U.S. Senate confirmed him as the new United States Ambassador to Burma. On September 4, 2018, Mitchell succeeded Kenneth Wollack as president of the National Democratic Institute, a position he served until September 2023.
Azita Raji was an Iranian-born American diplomat, banker, and philanthropist. She was nominated by President Barack Obama in October 2014 to serve as the United States ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden, and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate in February 2016. She presented her credentials to King Carl XVI Gustaf on March 15, 2016, and completed her tour of duty on January 20, 2017.
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.
Sarah E. Mendelson is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Mendelson was confirmed by the Senate on October 8, 2015, and sworn into her post on October 15, 2015. In 2017, Mendelson was named Distinguished Service Professor and head of Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College's program in Washington, D.C.
Kelley Eckels Currie (née Eckels) is an American human rights lawyer and former government official who served as the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues from 2020 to 2021. She previously served as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and as the Acting Deputy Representative of the U.S. to the U.N., after Michele Sison's departure. Before assuming her role as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, she was a senior fellow at the Project 2049 Institute, a think tank focused on security issues and public policy in Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. She previously held senior public policy positions with the United States Department of State and several international and nongovernmental human rights and humanitarian organizations. Currie also served as foreign operations appropriations associate and staff director of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus for Representative John Porter.
Elizabeth Anne Noseworthy Fitzsimmons is an American diplomat who had served as the United States Ambassador to Togo. She has serve Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Conflict and Stabilization Operations since August 12, 2024.
