Ronald Eldredge Neumann (born September 30, 1944) is an American diplomat who served as the

United States Ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the country's diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

(2005–2007),

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

(2001–2004) and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

(1994–1997). He is the son of former ambassador

Robert G. Neumann Robert Gerhard Neumann (January 2, 1916 – June 18, 1999) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia. Biography Born in Vienna, Austria, Neumann received degrees from the ...

and traveled extensively after college in Afghanistan while his father was ambassador there. Both he and his father served in diplomatic posts in Afghanistan: only one other father-and-son pair,

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

and his son,

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...

, did the same; both Adamses served as Ministers to Britain. He pronounces his last name Newmann (without the Germanic ''neu'') and his name is sometimes seen spelled that way.

Career

After college, Neumann served as a U.S. Army infantry officer in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Neumann joined 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 ...

as a

Foreign Service Officer A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...

in 1970. His first posting was in

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

, but in 1973 he served in Tabriz, Iran, and thereafter specialized in the

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 ...

, and

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

in particular. He also served in the United Arab Emirates. In 1991, while he was Director of the Iran Iraq office (Director of Northern Gulf Affairs), Neumann was involved in overseeing

Kurd ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...

ish refugees in the Middle East. In 1994 he was made ambassador to Algeria,"U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald E. Neumann Presents Credentials to President Hamid Karzai"
U.S. Department of State website, August 1, 2005. in part because of his Middle East experience, and served in that capacity until 1997. He subsequently was made Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. In 2000, he was selected to become ambassador to Bahrain, but the Senate did not confirm him immediately and during the delay he was found to be involved in a minor security scandal involving the mishandling of classified materials. He was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing and newly elected President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

approved his appointment in 2001. Neumann was ambassador to Bahrain when the embassy there was closed temporarily due to attacks in April 2002 from pro-

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

protestors. No one was hurt in the protest although buildings were damaged and vehicles were set on fire. In 2004, he left Bahrain to serve as a United States political advisor in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and served in that position until he was made ambassador to

in 2005. He was sworn in on July 27, 2005 and presented his credentials to Afghan President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

on August 1, 2005. He retained that post until 2007. Neumann currently serves as the president of the

American Academy of Diplomacy The American Academy of Diplomacy is a private, nonprofit, non-partisan, elected organization whose active membership is limited to men and women who have held positions of high responsibility in crafting and implementing American foreign policy. ...

, a Washington, DC-based think tank. In 2009 he authored ''The Other War: Winning and Losing in Afghanistan'', a book exploring political and military issues of Afghanistan. In 2018 Ronald E. Neumann was presented the Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award by the

American Foreign Service Association American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), established in 1924, is the professional association of the United States Foreign Service. With over 15,000 dues-paying members, American Foreign Service Association represents 28,000 active and retir ...

. Neumann is an Advisory Board Member of Spirit of America, a

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...

that supports the safety and success of Americans serving abroad and the local people and partners they seek to help.https://spiritofamerica.org/staff/ambassador-ronald-e-neumann Neumann speaks

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, and some

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

References

Sources

*"''The Other War: Winning and Losing in Afghanistan''"

Potomac Books The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Univers ...

*"U.S. works behind scenes to ease tension in Algeria",

The Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The newsp ...

, (April 23, 1994) *"Diplomatic Exit Some Way Off, Says Young",

Gulf Daily News The ''Gulf Daily News'' (''GDN'') is an English-language local newspaper published in the Kingdom of Bahrain by Al Hilal Group. The paper, which is one of six daily newspapers in Bahrain, calls itself "The Voice of Bahrain". Al Hilal Group publi ...

, (February 27, 2000) *"US Envoy to Stay Till Summer",

, (September 7, 2000) *"Envoy's Nomination Hits a Security Snag",

, (September 29, 2000) *"Embassy Row",

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

, (July 24, 2001) *"U.S. Embassy in Bahrain Remains Closed",

, (April 7, 2002) *"Bahrain: King Reviews US Ties with Outgoing Ambassador", Global News Wire, (June 1, 2004)

External links

Foreign Service Journal article on his Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award.BBC News article on his appointment.Adnki.com article on his appointment.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Ronald E. 1944 births Living people University of California, Riverside alumni 20th-century American Jews Ambassadors of the United States to Algeria Ambassadors of the United States to Bahrain Ambassadors of the United States to Afghanistan United States Foreign Service personnel 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American diplomats 21st-century American diplomats