Adel al-Jubeir

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Adel Al-Jubeir
Adel Al-Jubeir

His Excellency, Adel A. Al-Jubeir is the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States, and a former foreign policy advisor to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia. He is a well known representative of the Kingdom in the West, particularly the United States. Ambassador Al-Jubeir presented his credentials to President George W. Bush on February 27, 2007 in the White House.

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[edit] Early Life

Ambassador Al-Jubeir was born in February 1, 1962 in Al Majma'ah (Riyadh Province), Saudi Arabia, and attended schools in the Kingdom, Germany, Yemen, Lebanon and the U.S. He obtained a B.A. summa cum laude in political science and economics from the University of North Texas in 1982, and an M.A. in international relations from Georgetown University in 1984.

[edit] Political Career

In 1987, Al-Jubeir was appointed into the Saudi Diplomatic Service and posted to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC, where he served as Special Assistant to then Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan. It was in 1991 during the first Gulf War when Al-Jubeir first appeared to the world as a spokesman for the Saudi government. In 1990-91, he was part of the Saudi team that established the Joint Information Bureau at Dhahran during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He was a member of the GCC delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference in October 1991, and a member of the Saudi delegation to the Multilateral Arms Control Talks in Washington, DC in 1992. In December 1992, he was dispatched with the Saudi Armed Forces to Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope.


Al-Jubeir has been a member of the Saudi Arabian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, and was a visiting diplomatic fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York,1994-95. In 2000, Al-Jubeir became Director of the Saudi Information and Congressional Affairs Office at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC. In late 2000, he was named Foreign Affairs Advisor in the Crown Prince’s Court. In August 2005, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz appointed Al-Jubeir to the position of Advisor at the Royal Court.


On December 21, 2006, The Washington Post reported that Saudi Arabia informed the United States Department of State of its intention to appoint Al-Jubeir as the new ambassador to Washington. Ambassador Al-Jubeir replaced Prince Turki Al-Faisal who served as ambassador for 15 months.


On January 29, 2007, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) carried a Royal Decree appointing Al-Jubeir as the Saudi Ambassador to the United States of America with Ministerial rank at the Foreign Ministry.


Ambassador Al-Jubeir, who clearly has the trust of the King, has unique access to senior U.S. officials, including the President and Vice-President, which enables him to serve as an effective envoy and advocate for the bilateral relationship. He was instrumental in establishing and maintaining the U.S./Saudi Strategic Dialogue. The Strategic Dialogue was initiated by King Abdullah and President Bush as a means to institutionalize relations between the two nations and to deepen coordination on strategic, political and economic issues. The Strategic Dialogue includes six working groups: Energy; Economic and Financial Affairs; Consular Affairs; Cultural Affairs and Human Resources; Military Affairs; and Counterterrorism.


Ambassador Al-Jubeir travels frequently to the Kingdom for consultation with the King and other senior Saudi officials. He is often seen with King Abdullah in meetings with world leaders. He has also accompanied King Abdullah on a number of state visits. In October and November 2007, he was part of King Abdullah’s delegation on visits to Italy, Germany, Turkey and Egypt. During his visit to Italy, the King met with Pope Benedict XVI, in what was the first meeting between a Saudi Monarch and a Pope. In April 2007, Al-Jubeir welcomed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her delegation upon her arrival in Saudi Arabia. He was also part of the welcoming committee for President George W. Bush’s visit in January 2008.


In November 2007, Al-Jubeir joined Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, for the Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo in preparation for the Annapolis Peace Conference, which he attended on November 27, 2007 with Prince Saud. In January 2008, he accompanied the Foreign Minister on visits to Paris, London and Berlin.


[edit] Background

In December 2002, Al-Jubeir was chosen as Person of the Week by TIME magazine. He has lectured at universities and academic institutions in the U.S. and appears frequently in the media. In 2006, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of North Texas.

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