Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
U.S. government position
The assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs is the head of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs within the United States Department of State. The assistant secretary guides the operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in various countries of North Africa and the Near East and advises the secretary of state and the under secretary of state for political affairs.
The Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs is a senior official in the United States Department of State responsible for overseeing U.S. foreign policy and relations in the Near Eastern region, which includes countries in the Near East and North Africa.
The Department of State established the position of assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African affairs on October 3, 1949. The Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of Government, popularly known as the Hoover Commission, had recommended that certain offices be upgraded to bureau level and after Congress increased the number of assistant secretaries of state from six to ten. The Department of State established a Division of Near Eastern Affairs in 1909, which dealt with Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe as well as with the Near East. The final remnant of this practice ended on April 18, 1974, when the department transferred responsibility for Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus to the Bureau of European Affairs.
The Division of Near Eastern Affairs included Egypt and Abyssinia (Ethiopia) from its inception. It acquired responsibility for the rest of Africa (except Algeria and the Union of South Africa) in 1937. Relations with African nations became the responsibility of a new Bureau of African Affairs on August 20, 1958.
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