John Bass was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 28, 2017 as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan.

A career Senior Foreign Service officer, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey from 2014 to 2017, Executive Secretary of the State Department from 2012 to 2014, and U.S. Ambassador to Georgia from 2009 to 2012.  He began his diplomatic career in 1988 and has also served in positions in U.S. missions in Iraq, Italy, Belgium, and Chad.

In Washington, Ambassador Bass’s assignments have included service on Vice President Cheney’s staff, as Chief of Staff and advisor to Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, as Director of the State Department’s Operations Center and in several assignments focused on European security issues.  He has received numerous State Department performance awards.

The son of a public servant and a U.S. Air Force officer, Bass was born and raised in upstate New York. A graduate of Syracuse University, he speaks Italian and French. He is married to U.S. diplomat Holly Holzer Bass.

Contact Information

Embassy of the United States
Kabul, Afghanistan

Phone: (00 93) (0)700-10-8001
Fax: (00 93) (0)700-108-564 or (0)202-300-546

Website: www.kabul.usembassy.gov/