US Appoints New Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

The US Senate has confirmed the appointment of Michael Ratney as ambassador to Saudi Arabia, according to the website of the US Embassy in Riyadh.

According to the US State Department, Ratney is dean of the School of Language Studies at the Foreign Service Institute at the State Department.

Previously, Ratney held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Eastern, Israel and Palestine Affairs, and from 2015 to 2017, he was the US Special Envoy for Syria and between 2012 and 2015, he served as the US Consul General in Jerusalem.

Until 2012, Ratney served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Information in the US State Department's Bureau of Public Affairs, where he oversaw a network of global media centers responsible for foreign language media engagement on behalf of the US government.

Before that, he served as spokesperson for the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

Since joining the Foreign Service in 1990, Ratney has served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Doha, Qatar, with tours to Mexico City, Baghdad, Beirut, Casablanca, Bridgetown, and Washington, DC.

Ratney, from Massachusetts, USA, holds a BA from Boston University and a MA from George Washington University, and is fluent in Arabic and French.