Feierstein, Gerald Michael, 1951-

Gerald Michael Feierstein (born 1951) was the United States Ambassador to Yemen under President Barack Obama from September 2010 to October 2013. Since December 2013, Feierstein has served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs in the Department of State. Since his 2016 retirement from the U.S. Foreign Service, he has been affiliated with the Middle East Institute, first as a Senior Fellow and Director for Gulf Affairs and Government Relations and, since November 2018, as Senior Vice President of the Institute.

Feierstein was born in 1951 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from Point Park College in 1973 and an M.A. in International Relations from Duquesne University in 1975. In June 1975, he joined the Foreign Service.

In June 1975, Feierstein joined the Foreign Service as Director of the Office of Regional Affairs in the Near East Bureau. He subsequently served as: Director of the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh Affairs; Deputy Director in the Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs; and Desk Officer for Nepal, Pakistan and Egypt.

Between 2006 and 2008, Feierstein served in Washington, D.C. as Principal Deputy Assistant Coordinator and Deputy Assistant Coordinator for Programs in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

Feierstein served at a number of overseas posts: Islamabad, Pakistan (1976-78); Tunis, Tunisia (1983-1985); Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1985-1987); Peshawar, Pakistan (1989-1992); Muscat, Oman (1995-1998), where he was chargé d’affaires; Jerusalem, Israel (1998-2001), as deputy consul general; Beirut, Lebanon (2003-2004); Islamabad, Pakistan (2008-2010), where he was deputy chief of mission; and Sana'a, Yemen (2010-2013, where he was Ambassador.

In 2012, during hisambassadorship, al Qaeda in Yemen offered 3 kilograms (96 oz.) of gold (about US$160,000) for killing Ambassador Feierstein, and 5 million Yemeni riyals (about US$23,000) for killing an American soldier in Yemen.

Feierstein met his first wife, Mary, who is Pakistani, while first posted in Islamabad. His son served two combat tours in the United States Marine Corps during the Iraq War. In 2015, the marriage ended in divorce. In 2015, Feierstein married Carolyn McIntyre.