US President Joe Biden announced the nomination of Karen Sasahara as ‘Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Kuwait’. The White House said in a statement that Sasahara is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor and has most recently served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for North Africa. Prior to that she served as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim of the US Embassy in Amman, Jordan.
Before that, she was Consul General in Jerusalem, Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, served on the Foreign Service Board of Examiners, Deputy Chief of Mission in Sana’a, Yemen, and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commanding General of Special Operations Command Central. Earlier assignments also include Baghdad, Beirut, Mexico City, London, Jeddah, and Washington, DC.
Sasahara is the recipient of numerous State Department performance awards, including five Senior Foreign Service Performance Awards. A native of Massachusetts, she holds an MA in Near East Studies from George Washington University, and a BA in International Relations from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She speaks Arabic, Spanish, French and Russian.
Her nomination hearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which needs to approve the President’s nomination, is scheduled for 7 December.