Puneet Talwar (born 1965 in Washington D.C.) is an American diplomat serving as the United States Ambassador to Morocco. He previously served as the

Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs is a position within the U.S. Department of State that manages the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, charged with linking the Department of Defense and the Department of State b ...

from 2014 to November 2015. Talwar served as a top

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

advisor to

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and played a central role in the backchannel diplomacy that produced the

Iran nuclear deal The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the nuclear program ...

. Prior to working in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, he was a top advisor to then-Senator Joe Biden on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for twelve years.

Education

Talwar earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

and a Master of International Affairs from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Career

From 1995 to 1999 and again from 2001 to 2008, Talwar served as the Chief Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia Advisor to Joe Biden on the

United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid pr ...

. Talwar then worked on the Policy Planning Staff of the

United States Department of State 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 ...

from 1999 to 2001. Talwar was a foreign policy advisor for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, and served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Iraq, Iran, and the Gulf States on the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

from 2009 to 2014. In 2012, Foreign Policy Magazine named Talwar as one of the 50 most powerful Democrats in foreign policy. In 2014, Talwar was nominated by

to serve as

. He left office in 2015 and was eventually replaced by R. Clarke Cooper in 2019. Since leaving government service, Talwar has served as chairman and President of Crest International, a US-based private investment company. He is also a senior advisor at WestExec Advisors, a strategic advisory firm founded by former

Obama Administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

officials, Michèle Flournoy and

Tony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and ...

. In November 2020, Talwar was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the

Ambassador to Morocco

On March 18, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Talwar as the United States Ambassador to Morocco. Hearings on his nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 27, 2022. The committee favorably reported the nomination on August 3, 2022. He was confirmed by the entire Senate via voice vote on September 8, 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talwar, Puneet 1965 births Living people Cornell University alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni United States Department of State officials Ambassadors of the United States to Morocco