John P. Carlin was confirmed as head of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) by the U.S. Senate on April 1, 2014. He had filled the post in an acting capacity since March 8, 2013, when then-National Security Division head Jill Monaco moved to the White House as assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism..   read more

Aas was born May 25, 1955. He is from the Tøyen neighborhood in Oslo and is the son of a construction worker. He was initially ticketed for vocational school, but was able to talk his way into a more academic setting. Aas joined the foreign ministry in 1983. In 2008, Aas won his first posting as an ambassador, to Afghanistan. Much of his work there involved seeing that Norway’s funding for school construction was put to good use.   read more

In 1998 she was made chairperson of that Malta’s housing authority, serving in that post for 10 years. She also became active in politics with the Nationalist Party, running in a district election under its auspices. In 2009, Micallef, with much fanfare, switched her political allegiance to the Labour Party at the behest of its leader Joseph Muscat, in an effort to woo Nationalist voters. Muscat, for whom Micallef served as an advisor for several years, is now Malta’s prime minister.   read more

Bell's main contribution in 2012 was bundling contributions to Obama’s re-election effort. According to The New York Times, she raised more than $2.1 million during 2011 and 2012. Bell ran into trouble during her nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Bell had no experience with foreign service or special knowledge about the nation, Hungary, in which she had been nominated to serve. Apparently she had also spent little time studying about U.S.-Hungary relations.   read more

Among those he represented during his years at the two firms were You Tube/Google, successfully defending them in a $1 billion copyright infringement suit brought by Viacom; Philip Morris, successfully defending the tobacco in an action relating to punitive damages; Las Vegas Sands Corporation CEO Sheldon Adelson in a billion-dollar dispute over ownership of the Venetian Macao hotel and casino; and ex-New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik.   read more

Mukantabana began teaching history at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento in 1994. That was also the year of the Rwandan Genocide, in which thousands of Tutsi were massacred by members of that country’s Hutu majority. The same week that she was hired by Cosumnes River, she learned that among those killed were both her parents, three sisters, two brothers, six aunts, four uncles and all of her nieces and nephews.   read more

Cormack was executive assistant in the Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. In July 2011, Cormack became principal deputy coordinator of the Bureau of International Information Programs. On April 15, 2013, she was promoted to acting coordinator for international programs after a critical report by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General led to the resignation of Coordinator Dawn McCall.   read more

Gulyamov moved to Brussels in 2010 to head the Uzbek mission to Belgium, as well as be his country’s representative to the European Union and to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Since being posted to Washington in 2013, Gulyamov has spent much of his time promoting U.S.-Uzbekistan trade. He has taken criticism for his country’s practice of using child labor to plant and harvest crops, as well as other human rights violations.   read more

In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Taylor to be coordinator for counterterrorism for the Department of State, holding the rank of ambassador in the post. During the time he was in that post, he contradicted the Bush administration’s claim that Iraq had links to Mohamed Atta, the suspected ringleader in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.   read more

Starting in July 2008, he was deputy chief of mission in Ankara, Turkey, and in 2010 he was charge d’affaires for the embassy there. During his time Turkey, Silliman and his wife Catherine appeared on Turkish television, showing viewers what went into an American Thanksgiving dinner. In July 2011, moved on to Baghdad as councilor for political affairs. He was named deputy chief of mission and charge d’affaires in 2012, a post he held until his nomination as ambassador to Kuwait.   read more

Valdés had a brush with the Pinochet killing machine. He usually rode to work with colleagues Orlando Letelier, Letelier’s aide Michael Moffitt and Moffitt’s wife Ronni, but didn’t on September 21, 1976. The day before, a bomb had been planted in Letelier’s car and it went off while the three were on their way to work. Letelier and Ronni Moffitt were killed. Valdés had ridden in the car the day before the explosion while the bomb was attached.   read more

. In 2006, he joined the staff of Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Connecticut) as an agriculture appropriations associate. The legislation he worked on included the 2008 Farm Bill, the Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill, and the Food Safety Modernization Act Ronholm left for the executive branch in April 2011 as deputy under secretary for food safety. When Hagen left in 2013, Ronholm took over the top food safety position.   read more

In 2001, Gegeshidze cbecame a senior fellow at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS), a think tank. During his time at GFSIS, Gegeshidze wrote many scholarly papers and articles about Georgian policy, much of it about regional security and Georgia’s role as part of Europe. Gegeshidze remained at GFSIS until being sent to Washington as ambassador.   read more

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Baucus was a key player in President Obama’s fight to enact health-care legislation. One of Baucus’ first moves was to declare that single-payer healthcare, that is, a system like Medicare where the federal government manages payments to doctors, was not a possibility. Baucus originally supported the war in Iraq. However, a nephew was killed in Iraq in 2006. The following January, Baucus spoke in opposition to the war.   read more

Faily was active in Iraqi expatriate groups, particularly those opposed to the reign of Saddam Hussein. After nearly 20 years abroad, Faily returned to Iraq in 2003 in the wake of the U.S. invasion. He quickly found work in that nation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.   read more

Since being named ambassador to the United States, Ahn has lobbied some state officials over what to call the body of water east of the Korean peninsula in textbooks. In most books, it’s referred to as the Sea of Japan, but Korea prefers it to be known as the East Sea. Despite counterlobbying by the Japanese government, Ahn was successful in Virginia. That state’s textbooks will use both names for the body of water.   read more