Ambassador John Desrocher appointed Chargé d’Affaires at U.S. Embassy in Qatar
The U.S. State Department has named John Desrocher as Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy
in Doha, Qatar. In this capacity, Ambassador Desrocher will represent the United States
government and lead the embassy in its diplomatic engagement with the State of Qatar until the
appointment and arrival of a new ambassador. Ambassador Desrocher is a senior, career U.S.
diplomat with extensive experience in the region.
Commenting on the strength of Qatar-USA relations, Ambassador Desrocher stated, “From
coordinating together to strengthen regional security and stability to deepening our business and
people-to-people ties through initiatives such as the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture, the U.S.-
Qatar relationship is expansive and conducted in partnership and friendship. I am pleased to
arrive in Doha, and I look forward to leading the U.S. Embassy team as we work with a broad
range of stakeholders in Qatar to achieve common goals in the interests of the people of our two
countries.”
Ambassador John Desrocher served as the U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Democratic
Republic of Algeria from 2017 until 2020.
Since then, he has served as mediator for negotiations on the maritime boundary between Israel
and Lebanon and as Senior State Department Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy
at Georgetown University. From September 2014 until August 2017, he served as the Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for Egypt and Maghreb Affairs. Prior to that, he served as Deputy
Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. He also served in Baghdad from 2009-2010
as Minister Counselor for Economic Coordination, responsible for U.S.-Iraq economic policy
issues. In the interim, he served in the Department of State as the Director of the Office of Iraq
Affairs and briefly as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Maghreb Affairs. Between
2006 and 2009, he served as the U.S. Consul General in Auckland.
Ambassador Desrocher has extensive experience in international trade and in the Arab world.
Immediately prior to his assignment to Auckland, he served as Counselor for Economic and
Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and he has also served in Jerusalem, Monrovia,
Bonn, and in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative among other Washington assignments.
Ambassador Desrocher is a graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at
Georgetown University and is a multiple recipient of the State Department’s Superior and
Meritorious Honor Awards. He speaks French and German.