Ryan Crocker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ryan C. Crocker (born on June 19, 1949 in Spokane, Washington) is the current United States Ambassador to Pakistan. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon in 1990, Kuwait in 1994, Syria in 1998, and earlier served as in his country's embassies in Iran, Qatar, Iraq and Egypt. He attended University College Dublin and Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where he received a B.A. in English Literature in 1971.

Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, Crocker became the Director of the Iraq-Kuwait Task Force.

After Persian language training, he was assigned to the American Consulate in Khorramshahr, Iran in 1972. His subsequent assignment was to the newly-established embassy in Doha, Qatar in 1974 as an economic-commercial officer and in 1976 Crocker returned to Washington, DC for long-term Arabic training. He completed the 20-month program at the Foreign Service Institutes Arabic School in Tunis in June 1978 Crocker was then assigned as chief of the economic-commercial section at the U.S. Interests Section in Baghdad, Iraq. Crocker served in Beirut, Lebanon as chief of the political section from 1981 to 1984. He spent the academic year from 1984 to 1985 at Princeton University under State Department auspices pursuing course work in near-eastern studies. He served as deputy director of the Office of Israel and Arab-Israeli affairs from 1985 to 1987 and was political councillor at the American Embassy in Cairo from 1987 to 1990.

Crocker's experience and his vast knowledge of Middle Eastern cultures, history, and languages make him one of the State Department's leading experts on Middle Eastern affairs. He has received a Presidential Distinguished Service Award and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service.

In January 2002, he was appointed interim envoy to the new government of Afghanistan, and was confirmed as Ambassador to Pakistan in October 2004.

Media reports in November 2006 speculated that Crocker would be appointed as US envoy to Iraq, beginning in Spring 2007.

[edit] Sources

• United States Department of State: Biography of Ryan Crocker
• The Independent: “‘Failed’ American envoy to leave Iraq”
• White house press release written February 24, 1994

Preceded by John Thomas McCarthy	U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon 1990-1993	Succeeded by Mark Gregory Hambley
Preceded by Edward William Gnehm, Jr.	U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait 1994–1997	Succeeded by James A. Larocco
Preceded by Christopher W. S. Ross	U.S. Ambassador to Syria 1998-2001	Succeeded by Theodore H. Kattouf
Preceded by Nancy Jo Powell	U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan 2004–present	Succeeded by —