Ford, Robert Stephen, 1958-

<p>Robert Stephen Ford (born 1958) is a retired American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Algeria from 2006 to 2008 and the United States Ambassador to Syria from 2010 to 2014.</p>

<p>Ford is originally from Denver, Colorado, but is more recently a resident of Maryland. He earned a bachelor of arts in international studies and a master of arts in Middle East studies and economics from Johns Hopkins University. In addition, he pursued advanced Arabic studies at The American University in Cairo.</p>

<p>In addition to English, Ford speaks German, Turkish, French, and Arabic. A senior advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq once described Ford as being "regarded as one of the best Arabists in the State Department".</p>

<p>A career member of the United States Foreign Service, he entered the service in 1985 and has been stationed in İzmir, Cairo, Algiers and Yaoundé. Ford served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Bahrain from 2001 until 2004, and Political Counselor to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2004 until 2006. He was nominated for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Algeria by U.S. President George W. Bush on April 13, 2006. The nomination was sent to the U.S. Senate on April 24, 2006 and confirmed on May 27, 2006. Ford was sworn in on August 11, 2006. He served in the Algiers post until June 26, 2008.</p>

<p>In 2010, U. S. President Barack Obama nominated Ford as the first U.S. Ambassador to Syria in five years (pending U.S. Senate approval). In December 2010, after the U.S. Senate had failed to act on the nomination, Obama used a recess appointment to secure Ford the position. The Senate then confirmed Ford by unanimous consent on October 3, 2011. As a result, Ford no longer was serving under a recess appointment and therefore could have held the position until Obama's term ended in January 2017.</p>

<p>On October 24, 2011, Ford was recalled from Syria; the U.S. State Department cited "credible threats" to his safety. Ford had attracted the ire of pro-Assad Syrians due to his strong support of the Syrian uprising. According to American officials, Ford had been attacked by an armed pro-government mob, and Syrian state television had begun running reports blaming him for the formation of death squads similar to those in Iraq. This led to fears that supporters of the Syrian government might try to kill him.</p>

<p>In August 2013, it was reported by <i>The New York Times</i> that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had recommended that Ford serve as the next U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, following the incumbent ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, being nominated to serve as the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs – the head of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs within the U.S. Department of State, which oversees the Middle East. On February 4, 2014, officials of the U.S. State Department said that Ford was retiring and on February 28 announced his departure.</p>

<p>Ambassador Robert S. Ford served thirty years in the State Department and Peace Corps, finishing his career as the U.S. Ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014 and is now a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC. For his leadership of the American Embassy in Damascus, he received a Presidential Honor award in 2012, and for his work on Syria he received in 2014 the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award. For his defense of human rights in Syria, in 2012 he received from the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston the annual Profile in Courage award.</p>

<p>Ambassador Ford has also served as the U.S. Ambassador to Algeria (2006-2008) where he boosted bilateral cooperation in fields such as education and rule of law. He served three times in Iraq between 2003 and 2010, including as the Ambassador’s senior political advisor during the tumultuous elections and stand-up of the new, permanent Iraqi government in 2004-2006. Later, as Deputy Ambassador in Iraq 2008-2010, he assembled a government team that devised the logistical and security plans the new Obama administration used to establish our diplomatic posts in Iraq. As Deputy Ambassador in Bahrain 2001-2003 Ambassador Ford led the Embassy team that helped negotiate the free trade agreement with Bahrain, the first of free trade deal with a Persian Gulf state. Ambassador Ford also served in Cameroon, in Algeria from 1994-1997 during the civil war there, in Egypt and Turkey and in domestic assignments at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC.</p>

<p>He started his career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco from 1980-1982 and speaks fluent Arabic and French. He has a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.</p>