US Ambassador Dorothy Shea presents her credentials to President Aoun

BEIRUT: During a ceremony, Wednesday at Babda palace, Rhea along with a number of other new ambassadors went through the formal process of introducing themselves and presenting formal credentials to the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun.

She replaced longtime ambassador Anne Richards.

According to a statement from the US State Department, Shea is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with 28 years of experience, previously she served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt; from 2014-2017 as Deputy Principal Officer at the then-U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem; and before that from 2011-2014 as Director for Asia and Near East in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

She also studied at the National War College (NWC); INSERT INTO articles (articleId, timestamp, date, title, teaser, slug, status, primaryCategory, description, authorId, sourceId, url, lastUpdate, hasImage, contents, summary) VALUES where she earned a master’s degree in National Security Strategy. From 2009-2010, she served as Senior Professional Staff Member with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she covered Middle East and North African issues. From 2006-2009, she served as Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia.

The State Department said that other overseas assignments included service as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she worked on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process; and her first overseas posting was in Johannesburg, South Africa, during that country’s transition from apartheid to democracy.

The Ambassador also served in a variety of positions in the State Department, including as Nigeria Desk Officer, Watch Officer, Staff Assistant with Policy Planning Staff, and Special Assistant in the Office of War Crimes Issues. From 2000-2001, she served with the National Security Council as the Director for Human Rights. In 1998 she was awarded a Council on Foreign Relations Fellowship, during which she lectured at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and wrote a book about the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

During her appointment hearing in December to the Lebanon post, Shea told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “At the core of our interests in Lebanon are efforts to ensure a stable and prosperous nation with whom we can effectively partner to advance vital national security interests in the country and region.”

She added, “Working with the international community and the Lebanese people to address its now faltering stability is at the heart of U.S. interests in the Middle East and remains critical to ensuring success in the efforts to defeat ISIS, foster regional stability, and counter Iran’s destabilizing influence in the region. “