Gordon Gray III

Gordon Gray
United States Ambassador to Tunisia
In office
November 19, 2009 – July 5, 2012
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byRobert F. Godec
Succeeded byJacob Walles
Personal details
Born1956 (age 67–68)
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationYale University (BA)
Columbia University (MIA)

Gordon Gray III (born 1956) is the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs[1] at George Washington University. He was previously a professor of practice at Penn State's School of International Affairs.[2] He is a retired United States Foreign Service Officer and former career member of the Senior Foreign Service who attained the rank of minister-counselor. He joined the faculty of the National War College in July 2012[3] and held the positions of deputy commandant and international affairs advisor from June 2014 to June 2015.[4] He was the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia, having been sworn in on August 20, 2009, after his appointment to the position by President Barack Obama, and served until July 5, 2012.[5][6]

He retired from the Foreign Service in June 2015.[7] In July 2015, he joined the National U.S.–Arab Chamber of Commerce as the organization's executive vice president, serving in that capacity until August 2017.[8][9] He served as the chief operating officer of the Center for American Progress, a research and advocacy institute in Washington, DC, from September 2017 until October 2021.[10]  

Gray is also a non-resident fellow of Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy,[11] which in 2017 published his case study on Tunisia and the start of the Arab Spring.[12] Gray's other writings have been published by Time,[13] Newsweek,[14] The National Interest,[15] The Journal of Diplomacy,[16] Just Security,[17] Manara Magazine,[18]The Arab Weekly,[19] Foreign Service Journal,[20] The Hill,[21] Frankfurter Rundschau,[22] Euronews,[23] The Washington Diplomat,[24] National Security Journal[25], and translated into French by Leaders, a Tunisian magazine.[26]

Gray serves on the Board of Directors of AMIDEAST[27] and the Tunisian-American Young Professionals Association[28] as well as on the advisory council of the Middle East Institute's North Africa and Sahel program.[29]

  1. ^ "Gray, Ambassador (ret.) Gordon | Elliott School of International Affairs | The George Washington University". Elliott School of International Affairs. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  2. ^ "School of International Affairs hires career diplomat as new professor | Penn State University". Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  3. ^ "Gordon Gray". National War College. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  4. ^ "Ambassador Gordon Gray". National War College. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  5. ^ Bewig, Matt; Wallechinsky, David. "Ambassador to Tunisia: Who Is Gordon Gray?". AllGov. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  6. ^ "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. June 11, 2009. Retrieved January 20, 2011 – via National Archives.
  7. ^ "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR GORDON GRAY" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. February 10, 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  8. ^ "NUSACC Welcomes Ambassador (Ret.) Gordon Gray As Executive Vice President" (PDF). NUSACC. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 4, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  9. ^ "Washington-area appointments and promotions for Aug. 17, 2015". Washington Post. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  10. ^ "Gordon Gray". Center for American Progress. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  11. ^ "Ambassador (Ret.) Gordon Gray". ISD. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  12. ^ "Case 339 - Tunisia and the Start of the Arab Spring". Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  13. ^ "Nobel Peace Prize Honors Resilience of the Tunisian People". Time. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  14. ^ "Support Civil Society in Tunisia". Newsweek. March 28, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  15. ^ Gray, Gordon (April 11, 2018). "Why Pompeo Must Prioritize U.S. Diplomacy". The National Interest. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  16. ^ "Lessons Learned from a Dictator's Overthrow – Featured Opinion of Former Ambassador Gordon Gray – Journal of Diplomacy". blogs.shu.edu. April 26, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  17. ^ "Heed the Lessons From 2011 Libya to Prevail in Ukraine Today". Just Security. June 28, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  18. ^ "Deploy All the Instruments of Statecraft, Not Just the Military Ones". July 2, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  19. ^ "Running after the revolution | Gordon Gray". AW. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  20. ^ "The Foreign Service Journal, March 2020". FlippingBook. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  21. ^ Oliveira, Alexandra (June 25, 2020). "Will the next administration restore diplomacy in the Middle East?". The Hill. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  22. ^ "Tunesien braucht Hilfe bei Demokratisierung". www.fr.de (in German). April 3, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  23. ^ "Tunisia can still be a catalyst for global democratic reform". euronews. April 9, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  24. ^ Diplomat, Washington (April 23, 2024). "Tunisia holds valuable lessons for us all as democracy stumbles". Washington Diplomat. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  25. ^ Gray, Gordon (July 17, 2024). "The Risks of Donald Trump 2.0 Foreign Policy". NationalSecurityJournal. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  26. ^ "Courir après la révolution". Leaders (in French). Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  27. ^ "Board of Directors". AMIDEAST. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  28. ^ "Meet the Team". Tunisian American Young Professionals - Board Members. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  29. ^ "North Africa and the Sahel". Middle East Institute. Retrieved May 24, 2022.