Ambassador Tina Kaidanow was nominated by the President to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs on September 16, 2016. Ambassador Tina Kaidanow was designated Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs on February 22, 2016. Ambassador Kaidanow is the Department of State’s principal liaison with the Department of Defense and manages several critical components of U.S. foreign policy, including the maintenance of the State Department’s global security relationships, the provision of more than $5 billion in international security assistance, bilateral transfers and the licensing of commercial sales of U.S.-origin defense equipment, the negotiation of international security agreements, and the implementation of the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative.

Prior to joining the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Ambassador Kaidanow served since February 2014 as Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism, where she forged partnerships with foreign governments, multilateral organizations, and non-state actors to advance the counterterrorism objectives and national security of the United States. Previously, Ambassador Kaidanow served as Deputy Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul from September 2012 to October 2013. Ambassador Kaidanow became the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs in July 2011, having served earlier as the bureau’s Deputy Assistant Secretary responsible for issues related to Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and the Caucasus (August 2009 – June 2011).

From 2006-2009, Ambassador Kaidanow was the Chief of Mission and later the first U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Kosovo. She served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2003-2006. Prior to that, she was the Special Assistant for European Affairs to Deputy Secretaries of State Strobe Talbott and Richard Armitage.

A career member of the U.S. diplomatic service, Ambassador Kaidanow served as Special Assistant to U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill in Skopje from 1998-1999, with specific responsibilities focused on the crisis in Kosovo, and had earlier assignments in Sarajevo (1997-1998) and Belgrade (1995-1997). She has also held the position of Director for Southeast European Affairs at the National Security Council.

Ambassador Kaidanow earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Philosophy degree in Political Science from Columbia University in New York, as well as a certificate in Russian studies from the Harriman Institute.