Robert Orris Blake Jr. (born 1957) is an American career

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

who served as Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives from 2006 to 2009, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs from 2009 to 2013 and Ambassador to Indonesia from 2014 to 2016. Blake is a Senior Director at McLarty Associates where he leads the firm's India and South Asia practice and advises clients in Indonesia for the Southeast Asia and Pacific practice. He is also co-chair of the board of trustees at th
U.S.-Indonesia Society (USINDO)
and is a board member at th
Asia Foundation
and th
Bhutan Foundation
Blake also serves on the Global Leadership Council for th
World Resources Institute
and th
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
He is the son of Robert O. Blake and grandson of

Sheldon Whitehouse Sheldon Whitehouse (born October 20, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2007 as the junior United States senator from Rhode Island. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1998 as the United States Att ...

, both former U.S. Ambassadors.

Diplomatic career

Blake is a career

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

, having entered the Foreign Service in 1985. He has served at the U.S. embassies in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He also has held a number of positions at the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the 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 o ...

in Washington, D.C. Blake served as

Deputy Chief of Mission A deputy chief of mission (DCM, in Europe the term deputy head of mission – DHoM or DHM is used instead) is the number-two diplomat assigned to an embassy or other diplomatic mission. The deputy chief of mission is usually considered the second ...

at the U.S. Mission in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, from 2003 to 2006 where he was named the worldwide DCM of the Year by the State Department. BlakeNovember2007

Blake arrived in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

on September 8, 2006, to take up his duties as Ambassador to the

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian peninsula by ...

and the Republic of Maldives. Blake presented his credentials on September 9 to Sri Lankan President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

. In January 2007 he met with President

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ( ; born Abdulla Maumoon Khairi; 29 December 1937) is a Maldivian politician, statesman, diplomat and scholar who served as the 3rd president of the Maldives from 1978 to 2008. He previously served as the Minister of Tra ...

to discuss renewable energy in the Maldives. In February 2007, Blake received minor injuries from a mortar blast while exiting a helicopter at a Sri Lankan air base in

Batticaloa Batticaloa (, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu'', ; , ''Maḍakalapuwa'', ) is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern Univers ...

, where he was to attend a development meeting. Tamil rebels are believed to be responsible for the mortar attack.Diplomats hurt in S Lanka attack
, BBC News, February 27, 2007 The Tigers claimed they were not informed by the government that the ambassador was present and were only returning fire from the Sri Lankan Army. Blake was known to be engaged in the Sri Lankan civil society and practice what came to be known as "Public Diplomacy" which led some to label him as an interferer in internal affairs of the country.Robert Blake’s insistence on ‘equal rights’ and interference in Sri Lanka’s Internal Affairs
, The Island, May 10, 2011, 7:32 pm Blake succeeded

Richard Boucher Richard A. Boucher (born December 13, 1951) is an American diplomat who was deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2009 until 2013. He took up post on November 5, 2009. Prior to joining ...

when he assumed his duties as the Assistant Secretary for Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs on May 26, 2009,Blake, Robert, O. Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Stat

for which he was awarded the State Department's Distinguished Service Award. He was replaced by Nisha Desai Biswal on October 23, 2013, after being nominated by President Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia.

Personal life

Blake earned a B.A. from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1980 and an M.A. in international relations from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

School of Advanced International Studies The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C. The school also maintains campuses in Bologna, Italy and Nanjing, China. The school is devoted to the study of int ...

(SAIS) in 1984. He is married to Sofia Blake. They have three daughters.

References

1st Interview with Journalist Kevin Jacobs in Sri Lanka January 2007

Sources

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Robert O. Jr. 1957 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Indonesia Ambassadors of the United States to Sri Lanka Ambassadors of the United States to the Maldives Harvard College alumni Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni United States Foreign Service personnel 21st-century American diplomats