Karen Hideko Sasahara (born 1959) is an American diplomat who has served as United States ambassador to Kuwait since November 2023. She previously served as consul general in Jerusalem until the US embassy spokesperson in Israel moved to Jerusalem, and the US consulate closed down.

Early life and education

Sasahara was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

and raised in the Boston area, is daughter of Dr. Arthur A. Sasahara. Sasahara has a MA in Near East studies from the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

, and a BA in international relations from the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

Career

Sasahara is a member of the

Senior Foreign Service The Senior Foreign Service (SFS) comprises the top four ranks of the United States Foreign Service. These ranks were created by the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and Executive Order 12293 in order to provide the Foreign Service with senior grades ...

, with the rank of minister-counselor. As consul general, she was the point person for the State Department with the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

. Her next assignment was chargé d'affaires, a.i. at the U.S. embassy in Amman since March, 2019. In 1989 she served as political and economic officer at the US consulate general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Ambassador Nomination to Kuwait

On August 19, 2022, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

nominated Sasahara to be the next ambassador to

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

. On September 6, 2022, her nomination was sent to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Sasahara's nomination expired at the end of the year and was returned to President Biden on January 3, 2023. President Biden renominated Sasahara the following day. Hearings on her nomination were held before the

Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for authorizing and overseeing foreign a ...

on March 15, 2023. The committee reported her nomination favorably on April 27, 2023. Her nomination was confirmed by the full Senate via voice vote on October 16, 2023.

Personal life

Sasahara is married to fellow diplomat Michael Ratney. She speaks

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasahara, Karen Politicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts 1959 births Living people George Washington University alumni University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Jordan United States Foreign Service personnel American women ambassadors American_people_of_Japanese_descent Consuls-general for the United States in Jerusalem