In a distinguished career as a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, Ambassador Craig had numerous assignments both overseas and in the State Department. He pursued his career focus on economic analysis during assignments in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt and Haiti. Craig speaks Arabic, French and Spanish.

He became deputy chief of mission at the American Embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus followed by a similar posting to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. In 1995, he was appointed to head the Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs in the State Department’s Near East Bureau.

Then, in June 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton nominated Craig to be the United States Ambassador to Oman. After three years in the post, he returned to the United States just after Sept. 11, 2001, to be appointed by President George W. Bush as a Special Assistant to the President for Combating Terrorism. He served on the staff of the National Security Council with Gen. Wayne Downing, Deputy National Security Advisor.

In 2003, he was appointed as Boeing International Corporation’s regional vice president in the Middle East. In 2008, the Ambassador joined The Jadwin Group (MENA) as full partner and provided high level investment services to private sector entities and high net worth individuals throughout the Gulf region.

In 2015, Ambassador Craig joined the Manaar Energy Group as a Senior Partner. The group provides clients all over the world with valued analysis of the energy market with particular focus on Iran and Iraq and the Arab Gulf producers.

Ambassador Craig has Ambassador-in-Residence in the Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. He retains business activities in the Middle East, while basing his operations from central Pennsylvania.

Ambassador Craig and an important Middle Eastern client organized Working Group on the Plight of Christians and Religious Pluralism in the Middle East. The Working Group is a bi-partisan, multi-faith project of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, in Washington, DC. The goal of the Working Group is to identify results-oriented activities that will instill a sense of urgency and passion in interested parties, leading to outcomes that will save lives and restore stability to Christian populations as part of a religiously plural Middle East. The WG has been instrumental in proposing and implementing U.S. policy changes which have benefitted Christians across the Middle East.

Ambassador Craig received his BA at SIS, and the equivalent of an MA in International Relations from The National Defense University (National War College) in Washington.

Foreign Service Officer, Facility Manager (FM)/Post Engineer, Country Director, engineer, team lead and training manager with extensive experience in over 40 countries. Proven track record in sustainable development, technical and management training; performance based and life cycle budgeting; monitoring and evaluations and EHS (environment, safety and health) systems. Adept at central (HQ), regional and country level planning, budgeting and performance management. Director, board and steering committee member for utility, public services restructuring and engineering management for local, state and national organizations; Public-Private Partnerships; safety, training, work and maintenance management systems development.

28 years U.S. Government, 25 of them as analyst or analytic manager in national security roles, expertise in Near East and worldwide counter proliferation topics.

Current employment: US Department of State, US Foreign Service Officer

Past employment: 

— Google, inc., public policy and international affairs

—US Department of Commerce, Special Advisor, Business Liaison to US Secretary of Commerce

—White House, Office of the Chief of Staff to the President

Education: 

AU SIS, MA, US Foreign Policy & National Security 

St. Norbert College, BA, International Relations & Political Science

Hobbies: 

USA Powerlifting Federation registered competitor, espresso, cooking. Married, one child and one cat who wishes they were a dog. 

Vangala Ram holds an M.S. in National Security Resource Strategy from the National Defense University and an M.A. in International Relations from Boston University. He is a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer serving in a wide variety of positions around the world. Van currently teaches at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University as well as the National Intelligence University. He is teaching SISG-767 Conflict Assessment and Prevention in Fall 2025. 

I'm originally from Colorado.  Earned my undergrad in history and political science.  Moved to Washington D.C for graduate school.  Interned at a think tank and also in the Pentagon during grad school.  First job out of grad school was waiting tables.  Then came an internship at a cyber security company for three months..  Then moved into a contract position working in the State Department's Office of Personnel Security and Suitability.  Worked in PSS for two years before moving into a different contract position in State Department's Diplomatic Security Command Center.  Worked in the DS Command Center for almost two years before moving into my current position as an intelligence analyst with State Department's Office of Security Technology.  I've been in my current position for almost five years.  Gained a variety of skills, experiences, and wisdom through missed opportunities, unexpected changes of plans, and a still unfolding career path.