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The writer is a distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute and served as US deputy assistant secretary of state under the Biden administration
As a fragile ceasefire takes hold in the Middle East, countries are jockeying to shape the peace. But one group remains largely absent: US ambassadors.
Many Americans would be surprised to realise that in several of the Arab states that have been bombarded by Iran — including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq — there is no US ambassador present. Not one of these posts even has a nominee awaiting Senate confirmation.
It’s not just in the Middle East either — 115 of 195 American ambassadorial posts worldwide currently sit vacant. Fewer than 20 even have a nominee in the pipeline. That is diplomatic malpractice on a global scale — but the consequences are sharpest where the stakes are highest.
Going forward, there will be Gulf partners who badly need reassuring, reconstruction efforts to support, business ties to revitalise and expat Americans to help. At a time when many question US leadership, there’s an underrated value in simply showing up — and a cost for not doing so.
It is easy to tell ourselves this no longer matters. In a region dominated by royal courts and a US administration where a few envoys rule the roost, the assumption is that the real business happens elsewhere. Heads of state and top aides can, should and do speak directly. But we lose a lot by not having empowered American representatives on the ground.
I saw this up close over four years as the State Department official responsible for the Gulf region. After two years with mostly acting chiefs of mission, we finally managed to send seven Senate-confirmed ambassadors to every Gulf state.
The difference was palpable. Communication was clearer and we were able to head off multiple misunderstandings that could have become bruising, time-consuming fights. I took comfort knowing that if something went sideways overnight, there was an ambassador on the ground to field the first call — often before Washington even woke up.
None of this is a substitute for a functioning policy process and sound leadership. This is a hard environment to be an effective ambassador in. But diplomats still serve a vital function. They fill the space between compressed high-level calls and the messier realities on the ground. They warn Washington officials before they step on diplomatic landmines and local partners before they make a bad situation worse.
Given that they focus on a single country, ambassadors can also take on issues below the level of Donald Trump’s overtasked envoys and drive results when Washington isn’t looking. In recent, practical terms, that could have meant pressing earlier on the risks of stranding tens of thousands of Americans in a deteriorating security environment, or focusing attention on missile interceptor shortfalls.
None of this is to slight our acting officials. Most are extraordinarily capable. Many are future ambassadors. But their job is needlessly harder without a senior American presence in-country.
Nor is this partisan. I criticised the first Trump administration for its failure to nominate ambassadors to key Middle Eastern capitals — only to find that the administration in which I served grappled with similar problems in its first two years.
But something different is happening now. In December, the Trump administration actually pulled nearly 30 career ambassadors from an already woefully thin field.
At moments like these, an American ambassador in post sends a powerful message of solidarity to partners who are watching missiles rain down on their cities. It also tells US diplomats in the region that their work matters.
Look at India, where President Trump sent Sergio Gor, one of his closest advisers, as US ambassador to heal badly damaged ties. On a recent visit, several Indians told me how important and stabilising a signal that was. Gor is now working to bring Trump to India.
This administration should move fast to nominate capable, trusted officials — whether diplomats, business leaders, retired officers or even political allies — to key regional capitals. In a few months, attention will shift to the midterms and an uncertain Senate majority. The window is closing.
Trump may not be wedded to conventional habits of foreign policy. Fair enough. But there’s a reason countries since ancient times have appointed ambassadors abroad. It works.