Polaschik, Joan A., 1969-

<p>Joan Polaschik, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, is the Dean of the School of Professional and Area Studies at the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. Ambassador Polaschik served most recently as a Senior State Department Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, where she taught courses on U.S. diplomatic statecraft and North Africa.</p>

<p>Ambassador Polaschik’s career has focused on the Middle East and North Africa, with assignments as Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (2017-2019) and U.S. Ambassador to Algeria (2014-2017). She previously served as Director of the State Department’s Office of Egypt and Levant Affairs; Director of the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs; Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S Embassy in Tripoli, Libya; Regional Refugee Coordinator based at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan; Political Officer in Tunisia; and other staff-level assignments in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. She also has served in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.</p>

<p>Ambassador Polaschik earned a BA from the University of Virginia and an MSFS from Georgetown University. She speaks French and Arabic, and some Russian and Azerbaijani.</p>

<p>A 25-year veteran of the Foreign Service, Ambassador Joan Polaschik served most recently as the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, from 2017 until 2019. Prior to that, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, 2014-2017. Her career has focused on the Middle East and North Africa, with assignments as Director of the State Department’s Office of Egypt and Levant Affairs and Director of the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs; Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya; Regional Refugee Coordinator based at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan; Political Officer in Tunisia; and other staff-level assignments in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. She also has served in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.</p>

<p>Ambassador Polaschik received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an MSFS from Georgetown University. She speaks Arabic and French, and some Azerbaijani and Russian.</p>

<p>Joan A. Polaschik (born 1969) is a diplomat and the former United States Ambassador to Algeria. She was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate July 29, 2014. Her term began August 14, 2014 and ended in April 27, 2017.</p>

<p>Polaschik grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. Polaskchik attended the University of Virginia, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Russian Studies and Foreign Affairs in 1991. She earned an Master of Science from Georgetown University in foreign service.</p>

<p>Polaschik joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1995. Her initial assignments brought her to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and in 1997 she became a political officer at the embassy in Tunis, Tunisia. In 1999 she became a staff assistant in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Her next assignments brought her to Amman, Jordan, where she dealt with the issue of refugees from the Iraq war and to Baku, Azerbaijan.</p>

<p>In 2009 Polaschik moved to Tripoli, Libya, as deputy chief of mission. As the embassy's chargé d'affaires she coordinated evacuation of non-essential embassy staff and dependents. The embassy in Tripoli was then shut down, the first time in 12 years the U.S. closed a mission. Before the final evacuation, Polaschik stayed up all night destroying computers and sensitive information. After escaping from Libya, embassy staff reunited in Washington, D.C. and established an embassy-in-exile.</p>

<p>On September 11, 2012, the consulate was attacked and four people, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, were killed.</p>

<p>In 2013 she began an assignment as Director in the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs with the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.</p>

<p>In addition to English, Polaschik speaks French and Arabic, having studied Arabic at the Foreign Service Institute.</p>