Stewart, Karen Brevard, 1952-

Karen Brevard Stewart (born 1952) is an American diplomat. She notably served as U.S. Ambassador to Belarus (2006-2008), Laos (2010-2013), and the Marshall Islands (2016-2020).

Stewart graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wellesley College in 1973 with a BA in astronomy and economics. She then studied astronomy at the University of Virginia.

Stewart joined the Foreign Service in 1977. Her early international assignments have included ones in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Laos and Pakistan. Her domestic assignments have included serving as international relations officer in the State Department’s Office of Fisheries Affairs, economic officer in the Office of Energy Consuming Countries, and economic-commercial desk officer in the Office of Israel and Arab-Israeli Affairs.

Stewart earned an MS in national security strategy from the National War College of the National Defense University in 1998.

Stewart was deputy chief of mission in Belarus from 2004 to 2006. In July 2006, President George W. Bush nominated Stewart to be U.S. ambassador to Belarus and she arrived in Minsk on September 18. Following the U.S. imposition of economic sanctions against Belarus’ national oil company, the Belarusan dictator, Aleksandr Lukashenko, forced Stewart to leave the country on March 12, 2008.

In February 2010, she was made special advisor to the director general of the Foreign Service. Four months later, she was appointed ambassador to Laos. Her second ambassadorship lasted from November 16, 2010 until August 8, 2013.

After her second ambassadorship, Stewart served as political adviser to the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. In November 2015, she was nominated to be ambassador to the Marshall Islands. She was eventually appointed in June 2016, arriving in the country the following month. Her third ambassadorship ended in January 2020.

In addition to English, Stewart speaks Lao, Russian and Thai.