The US State Department has named John Desrocher as chargé d’affaires of the US embassy in Qatar, according to a statement issued in Doha on Tuesday by the mission.
In this capacity, ambassador Desrocher will represent the US government and lead the embassy in its diplomatic engagement with Qatar until the appointment and arrival of a new ambassador.
Ambassador Desrocher is a senior, career US diplomat with extensive experience in the region.
Commenting on the strength of Qatar-USA relations, ambassador Desrocher stated, “From co-ordinating together to strengthen regional security and stability to deepening our business and people-to-people ties through initiatives such as the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture, the US-Qatar relationship is expansive and conducted in partnership and friendship. I am pleased to arrive in Doha, and I look forward to leading the US embassy team as we work with a broad range of stakeholders in Qatar to achieve common goals in the interests of the people of our two countries.”
Ambassador Desrocher served as the US ambassador to Algeria from 2017 until 2020.
Since then, he has served as mediator for negotiations on the maritime boundary between Israel and Lebanon and as senior state department fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
From September 2014 until August 2017, he served as the deputy assistant secretary of state for Egypt and Maghreb Affairs.
Prior to that, he served as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Baghdad. He also served in Baghdad from 2009-2010 as minister counsellor for economic co-ordination, responsible for US-Iraq economic policy issues.
In the interim, he served in the department of state as the director of the Office of Iraq Affairs and briefly as acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Maghreb Affairs. Between 2006 and 2009, he served as the US consul general in Auckland.
Ambassador Desrocher has extensive experience in international trade and in the Arab world. Immediately prior to his assignment to Auckland, he served as Counsellor for Economic and Political Affairs at the US Embassy in Cairo, and he has also served in Jerusalem, Monrovia, Bonn, and in the Office of the US Trade Representative among other Washington assignments.
Ambassador Desrocher is a graduate of the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and is a multiple recipient of the state department’s Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards. He speaks French and German.
Ambassador Desrocher is a senior, career US diplomat with extensive experience in the region.
Commenting on the strength of Qatar-USA relations, ambassador Desrocher stated, “From co-ordinating together to strengthen regional security and stability to deepening our business and people-to-people ties through initiatives such as the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture, the US-Qatar relationship is expansive and conducted in partnership and friendship. I am pleased to arrive in Doha, and I look forward to leading the US embassy team as we work with a broad range of stakeholders in Qatar to achieve common goals in the interests of the people of our two countries.”
Ambassador Desrocher served as the US ambassador to Algeria from 2017 until 2020.
Since then, he has served as mediator for negotiations on the maritime boundary between Israel and Lebanon and as senior state department fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
From September 2014 until August 2017, he served as the deputy assistant secretary of state for Egypt and Maghreb Affairs.
Prior to that, he served as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Baghdad. He also served in Baghdad from 2009-2010 as minister counsellor for economic co-ordination, responsible for US-Iraq economic policy issues.
In the interim, he served in the department of state as the director of the Office of Iraq Affairs and briefly as acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Maghreb Affairs. Between 2006 and 2009, he served as the US consul general in Auckland.
Ambassador Desrocher has extensive experience in international trade and in the Arab world. Immediately prior to his assignment to Auckland, he served as Counsellor for Economic and Political Affairs at the US Embassy in Cairo, and he has also served in Jerusalem, Monrovia, Bonn, and in the Office of the US Trade Representative among other Washington assignments.
Ambassador Desrocher is a graduate of the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and is a multiple recipient of the state department’s Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards. He speaks French and German.