Ambassador Jonathan Cohen became Acting Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations on January 1, 2019, after having been the Deputy Permanent Representative since June 8, 2018. From August 2016 until June 2018, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs covering Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. He served in Baghdad as Deputy Chief of Mission 2014-2016, in Paris as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission 2013-2014 and as Minister Counselor for Political Affairs 2011-2013. From 2008-2011 he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Nicosia. From 2004-2008 he was Counselor for Political-Military Affairs in Rome. A Foreign Service Officer since 1986, other assignments include: Ankara as Political Advisor to Operation Northern Watch and Embassy Iraq Specialist 2000-2004; Political Advisor to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance-North, Irbil, and member of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Governance Team, Baghdad April-July 2003; Stockholm as Political Officer 1996-2000; Vienna as Liaison to the Hungarian Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Executive Assistant to the Head of the OSCE Bosnia Mission 1995-1996; State Department (Washington, DC) as OSCE Desk Officer/NATO Bosnia Officer 1993-1995, and on Secretariat Staff/Advance Teams for Secretaries of State Baker, Eagleburger and Christopher 1991-1993; Jerusalem as USAID Coordinator and Economic Officer for the West Bank 1989-1991; and Bangkok as Consular/Refugee Affairs Officer 1987-1989.
He graduated with an AB in Politics and a certificate in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton in 1985, spent 1985-1986 at Hebrew University in Jerusalem on an Israeli Government Grant and attended Georgetown’s Masters of Science in Foreign Service Program in 1986. His hometown is Laguna Beach, California.