Dr. Lawrence R. Silverman

Dr. Ambassador Lawrence R. Silverman is a retired member of the Senior Foreign Service; his last posting in a 35-year U.S. State Department career was as the U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait until October 2019. Since then, he has been advising U.S. institutions and companies regarding their interests in the Middle East. Prior to his ambassadorship, Ambassador Silverman was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, responsible for Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestinian affairs. Ambassador Silverman also served as Director of Israel and Palestinian Affairs; then-Vice President Biden’s Special Advisor for Europe and Russia; Deputy Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia; Director of the Office of Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus Affairs; Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Slovakia; and Deputy Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs, covering U.S. policy toward Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus. During the first half of his State Department career, Ambassador Silverman focused on issues related to the Middle East, serving overseas and as Special Advisor to Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns. Mr. Silverman began his State Department career in South Africa and Namibia; he was a member of the U.S. team that negotiated the agreement on the independence of Namibia. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy.