Ambassador Greta C. Holtz

Ambassador (ret.) Greta C. Holtz joined Amideast in August 2023, following 35 years as a career diplomat with extensive experience in the Middle East and North Africa. She served as the U.S. Ambassador to Oman from 2012 to 2015, the Chargé d'affaires in Qatar from 2020-2021, and the Minister-Counselor for Provincial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2009 to 2010. Additional postings included Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Tunisia, Syria, and Turkey, and her domestic assignments included serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and as the Director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative.

Ambassador Holtz’s broad experience encompasses a number of other positions, including Chancellor of the College of International Security Affairs at the National Defense University, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, and Senior U.S. Coordinator for Operations Allies Refuge (OAR) in Doha, Qatar, a U.S. government initiative to evacuate and resettle Afghan allies and their families after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Ambassador Holtz also served as the State Department's Coordinator for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a Senior Watch Officer in the State Department's Executive Secretariat's Operations Center, a 24/7 crisis management and communications center, and the Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commanding General of the U.S. Special Operations Command, providing strategic guidance for special operations missions worldwide.

Ambassador Holtz holds a BS in Political Science from Vanderbilt University, an MS in International Relations from the University of Kentucky's Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, and an MS in National Security Studies from the National War College. She speaks French, Arabic, and Turkish, and is the recipient of numerous State Department awards, as well as awards from the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency. She is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, a member of the Board of Advisors for Spirit of America, and a member of the Board of Directors for The Marshall Legacy Institute.