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Ross L. Wilson

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For other people with the same name, see Ross Wilson (disambiguation).
Ross Wilson
Official portrait, 2020
Chargé d'Affaires of the United States to Afghanistan
In office
January 18, 2020 – August 31, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byJohn R. Bass (ambassador)
Succeeded byIan McCary
United States Ambassador to Turkey
In office
December 8, 2005 – August 9, 2008
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byEric S. Edelman
Succeeded byJames Franklin Jeffrey
United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan
In office
October 11, 2000 – April 24, 2003
PresidentBill Clinton
George W. Bush
Preceded byStanley Tuemler Escudero
Succeeded byReno L. Harnish
Personal details
Born1955 (age 69–70)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
SpouseMargo Squire
Children2
EducationUniversity of Minnesota (BA)
Columbia University (MIA)
National War College (MA)

Ross L. Wilson (born 1955) is an American diplomat who served as the chargé d'affaires of the United States to Afghanistan from 2020 to 2021. He was the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey from 2005 to 2008 and the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan from 2000 to 2003, with the personal rank of Minister-Counselor. He also teaches part-time at Carleton College.[1] Ambassador Wilson is also the director of the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council.[2]

Early life and education

Wilson was born in 1955 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a Bachelor's degree magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 1977 and master's degrees from Columbia University (1979) and the National War College (1995). Early in his career, he served in the State Department’s Offices of Soviet Union and Egyptian Affairs.

Career

He served as U.S. Consul General at the American embassy in Moscow, USSR from 1980 to 1982, at the American embassy in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 1985 to 1987, again in Moscow from 1987 to 1990. He was Special Assistant to Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs and Counselor of the Department Zoellick in 1990–1992. From 1992 to 1994, Wilson worked in Washington D.C. for Secretaries of State Baker, Eagleburger and Christopher in 1992–1994 as Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State. He later served as U.S. Consul General again in Melbourne, Australia from 1995 to 1997.

From 1997 to 2000, Wilson was Principal Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large and Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union.

President Clinton nominated him as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan in February 2000, and he served in that capacity in 2000–2003. Between June 2003 and February 2005, Wilson served as U.S. Senior Negotiator for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. In this capacity, he headed the U.S. delegation in the FTAA negotiations and was responsible for the development, coordination and implementation of U.S. government negotiating positions and strategies in these trade talks. Between February and August 2005, Wilson served as Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff for Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick, providing policy and staff support to the Deputy Secretary on the entire range of issues in U.S. foreign policy.

Wilson was nominated to serve at the Ankara embassy by President George W. Bush on October 28, 2005. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 18 and sworn in by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on December 2. He arrived in Turkey on December 3 and presented his credentials to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on December 8, 2005.

On July 9, 2008, a guard post outside the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey was attacked by three gunmen. They killed three Turkish police officers, and wounded several others, before being killed by Turkish police. In response to the attack, Wilson stated:[3]

I want to express my condolences to the families of three Turkish police personnel who were killed in the attack that took place earlier today on our Consulate General in Istanbul. I understand there may be an additional two Turkish police who are wounded, and they are in our thoughts and prayers. [...]

The Turkish police responded quickly and effectively. We are deeply grateful for the work that they do to protect our official U.S. Government establishments here. We are cooperating closely with them, of course. [...]

It is an obvious act of terrorism. Our countries will stand together and confront this, as we have in the past.

Wilson is the recipient of the President’s Meritorious Service Award (2005), Azerbaijan’s Order of Honor, and numerous State Department awards.

In January 2020, Wilson was asked to serve as chargé d'affaires to Afghanistan, pending a permanent ambassador.[4] On 15 August 2021, in the face of the Taliban advance on Kabul, Wilson and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul relocated to Hamid Karzai International Airport.[5] On August 30, Wilson departed Kabul aboard the last evacuation flight as the final members of the U.S. military left Afghanistan.[6] On August 31, the embassy formally suspended operations in Afghanistan, and a limited staff moved to Doha, Qatar, from where they began providing limited consular services concentrated on the evacuation effort, including processing visas for people leaving Afghanistan.[7][8] Deputy Chief of Mission Ian McCary took over as Chargé d'Affaires when the embassy relocated to Doha.[9]

Personal life

Wilson is married to Margo Squire, who is also a career diplomat with the State Department. They have two sons.

References

  1. ^ [1] at Carleton College
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2013-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Statement on Consulate Attack by U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson". United States Department of State. July 9, 2008. Archived from the original on July 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  4. ^ Smith, Kelly (January 16, 2020). "Trump administration taps Minnesota native to lead U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 31, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "US Embassy in Kabul instructs Americans to 'shelter in place' amid reports of gunfire at airport". USA Today. August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021. The State Department said America's top diplomat in Afghanistan, Ross Wilson, was among those who had been "relocated" to the airport.
  6. ^ Mitchell, Ellen (2021-08-30). "Last US military plane out of Afghanistan ends America's longest war". The Hill. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  7. ^ Jakes, Lara (30 August 2021). "In a final blow of the 20-year war, U.S. envoys close their embassy and exit Kabul". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  8. ^ U.S. Embassy in Kabul (31 August 2021). "Security Message: Suspension of Operations". Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Chargé d'Affaires Ian McCary". U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Turkey
2005–2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan
2000–2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
John R. Bass
(ambassador)
 Chargé d'Affaires of the United States to Afghanistan
2020–2021 		Succeeded by
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