Montenegro

Srdjan Darmanović became ambassador of Montenegro to the United States on Nov. 30, 2010.

An associate professor of comparative politics at the University of Montenegro, Ambassador Darmanović was the founder and first dean of the university’s Faculty of Political Science (2003-10). He was also the founder and president of the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM), a nongovernmental organization and think tank based in Podgorica, Montenegro (1997-2010), and he has been a guest lecturer at various universities in Washington, D.C. (Johns Hopkins), as well as in Rome, Hamburg and Belgrade, where he was a member of the political science faculty.

In addition, Ambassador Darmanović was a former MP in the Federal Parliament of the former Yugoslavia (1992-96), an international research group member for the Aspen Institute (1997-98), and he has testified twice before the Helsinki Commission of the U.S. Congress (1998, 2000). Ambassador Darmanović has been a member of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe since 2005, working in the commission’s Council for Democratic Elections and Sub-Committee for Democratic Institutions. He is also the author of two books — “Malformed Democracy – the Drama of Yugoslav Post-Communism” (1993) and “Real-Socialism: Anatomy of a Collapse” (1996) — and has co-authored several books and written various articles in publications such as the D.C.-based Journal of Democracy and the East European Constitutional Review in New York City and Budapest.

Ambassador Darmanović’s hobbies include chess, for which he holds the international rating of master level.

Peru

Pedro Bravo became head of the Political Section at the Embassy of Peru last year. A minister-counselor in the Peruvian Foreign Service, Bravo previously served as counselor at the Peruvian Mission to the European Union in Brussels and the Permanent Mission of Peru to the World Trade Organization in Geneva. He has also served in the Peruvian Mission to the Latin American Integration Association in Montevideo. In addition, Bravo was director of the Free Trade Agreements Negotiations Department and the APEC Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lima.

Miguel Samanez departed as head of the Economic Section at the Embassy of Peru in December 2010.

Thailand

Kittiphong Na Ranong became ambassador of Thailand to the United States on Dec. 7, 2010.

Ambassador Kittiphong most recently served as director-general of the Department of East Asian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2009-10) and as Thailand’s ambassador to Vietnam (2006-09). A career diplomat, Ambassador Kittiphong joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand in 1983 after a brief stint with the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s oldest English language newspaper. Since then, he has held numerous senior positions in the ministry, including deputy director-general of Department of East Asian Affairs (2000-01), deputy director-general of the Department of ASEAN Affairs (2002-03), and director-general of the Department of International Organizations (2003-06). His first overseas assignment was at the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations in Geneva (1987-90). Other overseas postings include minister-counselor at the Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1996-2000).

Ambassador Kittiphong holds a bachelor’s of arts degree in political science (first class honours) with distinction from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and a master’s in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.