Ambassador of the United States of America, Retired
Ambassador Deborah K. Jones retired from the U.S. Department of State in November 2016 with the rank of Career Minister following 34 years of service that included Presidential
appointments as Chief of Mission (U.S. Ambassador) to the State of Kuwait (2008 – 2011) and Libya ( 2013 – 2015). Other senior assignments include Deputy Commandant/International
Affairs Advisor at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (formerly ICAF) of the National Defense University; Scholar-in-Residence at the Middle East
Institute; Senior Faculty Advisor for National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island; and Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey.
Overseas assignments include Argentina (during the Falkland-Malvinas War), Iraq (during its war with Iran), Syria (during “Desert Storm”), Ethiopia (with regional responsibility for Eritrea,
Djibouti and the Sudan), and the United Arab Emirates. Washington assignments include the Secretariat’s Seventh Floor Operations Center, Staff Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for
Near East and South Asian Affairs, Acting Public Affairs Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs, Jordan Desk Officer and Director of the Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs
and Iran (2002-2004). Jones studied Arabic at the Foreign Service Institute’s Field School in Tunis, Tunisia and served on the Department’s Board of Examiners. She has received multiple
Department senior performance awards, including several Superior Honor Awards, and was nominated for a Presidential Honor Award in 2014. Jones was decorated by the UAE’s Minister
of State for Foreign Affairs with the sash of the “Order of Independence” in 2002.