John William Blaney (born 1948) was a

United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

official and former U.S. ambassador to Liberia.United States Department of State.
"John W. Blaney Biography"
''U.S. Department of State webpage'', September 29, 2009. Retrieved on October 25, 2008. Ambassador Blaney led successfully U.S. efforts to end Liberia's long civil war, including crossing no man's land in 2003 to negotiate an end to the fighting, which enabled the formal peace process in Ghana to conclude successfully the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. For his achievements in Liberia, Ambassador Blaney was awarded the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award, the highest diplomatic honor of his nation. Previous diplomatic assignments included chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in South Africa, director for Southern African affairs at the State Department, presidential designation as the U.S. deputy representative to the ECOSOC of the United Nations, minister-counselor at U.S. Embassy Moscow (as the Soviet Union was disintegrating), and positions working on several nuclear arms control negotiations (including principal drafter and a negotiator of the U.S.-USSR Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers Agreement). He also served as a legislative assistant in both houses of Congress, and as an economist at the U.S. Treasury and State Departments. During the course of his career, Ambassador Blaney received many State Department honors as well as presidential and foreign awards, including Liberia's Order of the Knight Great Band, and an honorary doctorate in political science. He is the author/editor of Successor States to the USSR (Congressional Quarterly Books, 1995), and many journal articles, including "The Art of Strategy Creation for Complex Situations" (PRISM, 5-3, National Defense University, and elsewhere). Prior to his diplomatic career, Blaney served as an officer in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Early life

Blaney graduated from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, and he holds a Masters of Science in Foreign Service from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. After retiring from public service, Blaney worked on Wall Street, and later became a senior advisor at

Deloitte Consulting Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wit ...

.Inquirer
. Retrieved on 27 May 2010. Presently (2022), he is the CEO of Bridge of Gold Entertainment LLC.

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External links

on U.S. Department of State website. 1948 births Living people Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni People from Santa Monica, California Syracuse University alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Liberia United States Army officers United States Foreign Service personnel 21st-century American diplomats Military personnel from California {{US-diplomat-stub