Savannah Council on World Affairs Lecture Series: Commercial Diplomacy - The Trump Administration and the Art of the Deal in the Middle East
Wednesday, March 12th, 2025
These are challenging times for U.S. corporations looking to continue or expand their operations overseas. The challenges in the Middle East are among the most complex. How has the U.S government encouraged and supported investment and operations in complicated conditions in foreign countries? Has this support been successful? What more can be done? More broadly, how should the new Administration be addressing the current challenges in the Middle East? Come hear Amb. Stuart Jones draw from his unique experience as a private sector promoter of U.S. business, as a seasoned diplomat prior to his business career, and now as president of a major think tank on the Middle East.
Ambassador (ret.) Stuart E. Jones joined the Middle East Institute (MEI) as its 18th president in January 2025. He came to MEI from Bechtel Corporation, a global engineering, construction and project management firm, where he was a senior vice president and President for Regions and Corporate Affairs. He retired from Bechtel in 2024.
Prior to Bechtel, Ambassador Jones served for three decades as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in the Department of State. His tours included: U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (2014-2017), during the height of the ISIS crisis, and U.S. Ambassador to Jordan (2011-2014). Other foreign tours included Turkey, Egypt, El Salvador, and Colombia. He retired as the senior bureau officer (SBO) for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, in 2017. Ambassador Jones also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, and Deputy Chief of Mission in Baghdad and Cairo.
Hailing from Philadelphia, Ambassador Jones is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Duke University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy. He resides with his wife, Barbara Jones, also a former Foreign Service Officer, in Falls Church, Virginia.
