The Marshall Islands , a chain of 24 atolls and coral islands in the South Pacific containing only 66 square miles of land, sent a new ambassador to the United States who was educated in the U.S. and has worked at the embassy since 2007. On September 9, 2011, Charles Rudolph Paul presented his credentials to President Barack Obama as the Marshall Islands’ third, and youngest serving Ambassador to the United States. The U.S. used two atolls in the Marshalls, Bikini and Enewetak, for nuclear bomb testing in the 1950s and 1960s. Many Marshallese now live in Hawaii and Arkansas.

 

Born in 1980, Paul is the son of Rudolph and Irene Paul of Ebeye, Kwajalein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands. Paul graduated from Kwajalein High School in 1999, and earned a BA in Economics from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, in 2003. While in college, Paul worked as an intern at the International Programs Center of the U.S. Census Bureau in Washington, DC.

 

After graduating, Paul served as an economic research specialist for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office of Compact Negotiations, as negotiations with the United States for an amended agreement were concluding. After the negotiations were completed, Paul continued working on the Compact of Free Association with the US, serving as Chief of Performance Monitoring, Evaluation, and Aid Coordination at the Economic Policy, Planning and Statistics Office in Majuro, Marshall Islands, from 2004 to 2007.

 

Paul was assigned to serve as First Secretary for Health and Education Affairs at the Marshall Islands Embassy to the United States in 2007. In February, 2008, he was appointed Charge d’Affaires ad Interim, and Deputy Chief of Mission to the Embassy. In that capacity, he testified before a U.S. House Subcommittee on the need to combat global warming, which is a particular concern for low-lying island nations like the Marshall Islands. 

-Matt Bewig

 

Testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment (2008)