James Blair Cunningham (born 1952) is an American diplomat who served as the

United States Ambassador to Afghanistan The United States ambassador to Afghanistan is the official diplomatic representative of the United States to Afghanistan. In the wake of the 2021 fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul transferred operations to Doha, Qatar. Si ...

. Cunningham has served in various diplomatic positions, including

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

NATO Secretary General The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance, leading NATO's international staff ...

Manfred Woerner (1989–1990), Deputy Advisor for Political Affairs at the United States Mission to the United Nations (1990–1992), Director of the State Department's Office of European Security and Political Affairs (1993-1995), Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the United States in Rome (1996–2001), Acting

United States Ambassador to the United Nations The United States ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is formally known as the permanent representative of the United States of America to the United Nations ...

(2001), Consul General of the United States to Hong Kong and Macau (2005-2008) and the

United States Ambassador to Israel The United States ambassador to Israel is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Israel. Until 1948 the area that is now the state of Israel had been under British administration as part of the ...

(2008–2011).

Early life and education

Cunningham was born in

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in T ...

, Pennsylvania. He graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 1974, with degrees in political science and psychology.

Career

He has served as the Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the United States in Rome before becoming an ambassador to the United Nations. He has spent most of his career working on European political and security issues, and in multilateral diplomacy. He served from 1989 to 1990 as

Manfred Woerner. His responsibilities included advising the Secretary General on the entire range of NATO issues in the context of the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. Cunningham became Deputy Advisor for Political Affairs at the United States Mission to the United Nations in August 1990, just after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. He returned to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, as Deputy Director of the State Department's Office of European Security and Political Affairs in 1992, becoming Director in 1993. As Director, he was involved in many aspects of U.S. policy toward Europe, including NATO, arms control and disarmament, and

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. After a year of senior officer development training, he took up his duties in Rome in August 1996. As

Consul General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

, (from 2005–2008) Cunningham was responsible for Hong Kong and Macau, both special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China. He is known in

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

as 郭明瀚 ''Guō Mínghàn''. Cunningham became the Chairman of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) in 2021. CFHK is a US-based non-profit organisation, which presses for the preservation of freedom, democracy, and international law in Hong Kong.

Personal life

He is married to Leslie Genier of Mineville,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

. The couple have two daughters, Emma and Abigail.

Awards and honors

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

Superior Honor Award The Superior Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State. Similar versions of the same award exist for the former U.S. Information Agency, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and USAID. It is presented to groups or individu ...

U.S. State Department

Meritorious Honor Award The Meritorious Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State. Similar versions of the same award exist for the former U.S. Information Agency, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and USAID. It is presented to groups or indivi ...

* National Performance Review's Hammer Award

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, James B. 1952 births Ambassadors of the United States to Afghanistan Ambassadors of the United States to Israel Living people People from Allentown, Pennsylvania Permanent Representatives of the United States to the United Nations Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs alumni Consul General of the United States in Hong Kong and Macau 21st-century American diplomats