George P. Kent was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 13th to become the next United States Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia. We look forward to working with the Ambassador Designate as he proceeds through the next steps in the ambassadorial process. Gabrielle Cowan remains the Chargé d’Affaires of U.S. Embassy Tallinn until that process has been completed.
George P. Kent, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, most recently served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the European and Eurasian Bureau at the U.S. Department of State. Previously, he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Kyiv, Ukraine. Prior to that, George P. Kent was the Senior Anti-Corruption Coordinator in the State Department’s European Bureau. He has also served as Director for Europe and Asia in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1992, George P. Kent has served in U.S. Diplomatic Missions in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Warsaw, Poland; Bangkok, Thailand (twice), and Kyiv, Ukraine (twice). Other State Department assignments include Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Operations Center Watch Officer, and Thai desk officer. George P. Kent holds an A.B. from Harvard in Russian History and Literature, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins’ SAIS, and an M.S. from the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School. He speaks Ukrainian, Russian, and Thai. Kent is a Kirby Simon Fund Trustee.
