“Challenges a new Trump Administration Will Face in the Middle East.”

Christopher Henzel US Ambassador (Retired)

Ambassador Christopher Henzel focused on the Arab and Muslim world during his 36-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service.

His assignments included chargé d’affaires for Saudi Arabia for the first two years of the Trump administration; ambassador to Yemen; head of the Ninewah Province reconstruction office in Mosul, Iraq, and, in Washington, director of the Israel-Palestine office at the State Department.

He is proud to be on the Iranian government’s sanctions “black list.”

Since retiring in 2021, he has been providing advice to U.S. firms doing business in the Middle East, and serves as the senior advisor for Near Eastern Affairs to the U.S. Mission to the UN in New York. He is active in local Republican politics in Fairfax County Virginia, and serves on the county Electoral Board.