Ambassador Robin Raphel has deep expertise on political, security and economic issues in South Asia and the Middle East.  A career foreign service officer for nearly four decades, she served as the first Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Ambassador to Tunisia, Vice President of the National Defense University, and Deputy Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.  She managed the sharp increase of economic development assistance to Pakistan during the war on terror, and deployed to Iraq with the first civilian contingent after the 2003 invasion to help restore the critical food ration system. Earlier in her career she served in Pakistan, India, South Africa and the UK, and taught history at Damavand Women’s College in Iran.  

Ambassador Raphel is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Nichols Liu LLC.  She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Diplomacy, and the Pugwash Council.  She serves on the board of the Association of Diplomatic Studies and Training, the Friends of The American University of Afghanistan, and the America-Pakistan Foundation.  She is a frequent speaker on South Asian issues in the US and the region. She received the prestigious Hilal-i-Pakistan Award from the President of Pakistan in 2023 for her longstanding efforts to promote better US-Pakistan relations.

Ambassador Raphel holds a BA degree from the University of Washington, and graduate degrees from University of Maryland and Cambridge University in the UK.