The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the national security council used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security,military,and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House,it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States,and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad is an American diplomat and foreign policy expert. Khalilzad was U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation from September 2018 to October 2021. Khailzad was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as United States ambassador to the United Nations,serving in the role from 2007 to 2009. Khalilzad was the highest ranking Muslim-American in government at the time he left the position. Prior to this,Khalilzad served in the Bush administration as ambassador to Afghanistan from 2004 to 2005 and Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007.
Elliott Abrams is an American politician and lawyer,who has served in foreign policy positions for presidents Ronald Reagan,George W. Bush,and Donald Trump. Abrams is considered to be a neoconservative. He was a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as the U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela from 2019 to 2021 and as the U.S. Special Representative for Iran from 2020 to 2021.
The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is an intelligence agency in the United States Department of State. Its central mission is to provide all-source intelligence and analysis in support of U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy. INR is the oldest civilian element of the U.S. Intelligence Community and among the smallest,with roughly 300 personnel. Though lacking the resources and technology of other U.S. intelligence agencies,it is "one of the most highly regarded" for the quality of its work.
The Bureau of International Organization Affairs (IO) is a bureau in the United States Department of State that creates and executes U.S. policy in the United Nations and other international organizations. It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. The IO is charged with developing and implementing the policies of the U.S. government with respect to the United Nations and its affiliated agencies,as well as within certain other international organizations. The Bureau of International Organization Affairs was created in order to strengthen the United States involvement in important international relations.
David Michael Satterfield is an American diplomat and ambassador,who has served extensively in the Middle East,including the Persian Gulf area,Lebanon,and Iraq. He later served as a senior advisor on Iraq for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and was director general of the Multinational Force and Observers,the peacekeeping force for the Sinai Peninsula from June 2009 until August 2017. He was chargéd'affaires to Egypt from August 2013 to January 2014 and was subsequently Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Libya. From September 2017 to June 2019 he served as the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs,and was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Turkey on June 27,2019.
The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA),also known as the Bureau of Near East Asian Affairs,is an agency of the Department of State within the United States government that deals with U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic relations with the nations of the Near East. It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs,who reports to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
The United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) with responsibility for monitoring and assessing global political developments and advising and assisting the UN Secretary General and his envoys in the peaceful prevention and resolution of conflict around the world. The department manages field-based political missions in Africa,Central Asia,and the Middle East,and has been increasing its professional capacities in conflict mediation and preventive diplomacy. DPPA also oversees UN electoral assistance to Member States of the organization. Established in 1992,the department's responsibilities also include providing secretariat support to the UN Security Council and two standing committees created by the General Assembly concerning the Rights of the Palestinian People and Decolonization. DPPA is based at the UN Headquarters in New York City.
Hady Amr is an American government official who served as special representative for Palestinian affairs from 2022 to 2025. He was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs within the U.S. Department of State. The new position is a significant upgrade in relations with Palestine. He was appointed to the role under President Joe Biden on January 20,2021. He was born in Lebanon,and has close ties to the region,being praised by both Israeli and Palestinian leaders alike.
Eric Paul Schwartz is the former president of Refugees International and former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Population,Refugees,and Migration.
Jamal Benomar is a former UN diplomat. He worked at the UN for 25 years,including as a Special Envoy for Yemen and a special adviser to former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He is currently chair of the International Center for Dialogue Initiatives.
Brett Holden McGurk is an American diplomat,attorney,and academic who served in senior national security positions under presidents George W. Bush,Barack Obama,Donald Trump,and Joe Biden. He served as deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield is an American diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to the United Nations under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025. She served as the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 2013 to 2017. Thomas-Greenfield then worked in the private sector as a senior vice president at business strategy firm Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington,D.C.
Bathsheba "Sheba" Nell Crocker is an American diplomat who had served as the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva. She previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 2014 to 2017.
Mary Catherine "Molly" Phee is an American diplomat who had served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs. 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.
Martin Griffiths is a British diplomat who served as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations from 2021 to 2024.
Barbara A. Leaf is a U.S. diplomat who had served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. As former Senior Foreign Service officer,she served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2015 to 2018.
Giandomenico Picco,also known as Gianni Picco,was an Italian diplomat and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs,who negotiated the release of 11 hostages held by terrorists in Lebanon,earning him the epithets "chief troubleshooter" and "unarmed soldier of diplomacy" from United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar.
Steven H. Fagin is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Yemen since 2022.
Robert A. Wood is an American diplomat who served as the alternate representative of the United States of America for special political affairs in the United Nations from 2022 to 2025,with the rank of ambassador.
