American Ambassadors Events Council of American Ambassadors

Ambassador Juster served more than three years as the 25th U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of India, the third largest U.S. Mission in the world. During his tenure, he tackled a broad range of issues including matters of defense, education, and space in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Roundtable, Ambassador Juster shared his perspective on the U.S.-India trade relationship, India's energy and health sectors, and more from his time at post.

Born in Bucharest, Ambassador Zuckerman emigrated to the United States with his family in 1966. He returned to Romania in 2019 to serve as Ambassador until January of 2021. He is only the second U.S. Ambassador of Romanian heritage to serve in this role and the first to have native fluency in Romanian. In this Roundtable, Ambassador Zuckerman discussed how Romania has changed through the years, how the country has coped through the pandemic and the critical role that the U.S.-Romanian relationship plays in the region.

Ambassador Brown and Ambassador Cella made transformative diplomatic accomplishments during their tenures. Ambassador Brown served as Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa from 2017 to 2020. He has a long history of public service, including as a United States Senator from Massachusetts (R, 2010–2013). Ambassador Cella served as Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu from 2019 to 2021. He has managed a number of successful political campaigns and served as senior adviser to the House Republican Steering Committee and the Republican Policy Committee. In this roundtable, they discussed the challenges they faced while at post - including the onset on the global pandemic - and their unique approaches to diplomacy.

Senator Bill Hagerty was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2020 and is currently serving his first term representing the state of Tennessee. Prior to that, he served as Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2019. Senator Hagerty has also worked as an economic advisor and as a White House Fellow under President George H. W. Bush. From 2011 to 2014, Hagerty served as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. In this Roundtable, he discussed how he strengthened the U.S.-Japanese relationship and how he continues to use his experience abroad to inform his work in Congress.

A four star U.S. Army general, Ambassador Abizaid has a decorated history in service to the United States. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, he served as Commandant at the United States Military Academy at West Point and Commander of the U.S. Central Command during the Iraq War. During his time in Saudi Arabia, Ambassador Abizaid was faced with a number of profound challenges to the U.S.-Saudi relationship - including the war in Yemen and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In this Roundtable, he discussed how he managed these crises and built on the strengths of the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

Ambassador Christopher Landau was born into a Foreign Service family and has a lifetime of experience in the field of international affairs. During his time in Mexico, Ambassador Landau was faced with a number of challenges adding to the complexities of his role. In addition to managing migration cooperation and the response to COVID-19, he dealt with China's looming influence and the ongoing fight against the cartels. In this Roundtable, Ambassador Landau discussed his approaches to these crises, how he built on the U.S.-Mexico relationship, and the American community in Mexico.