thumb|The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, 2010
The United States ambassador to Afghanistan is the official diplomatic representative of the United States to Afghanistan. In the wake of the 2021 fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the U.S. embassy in Kabul transferred operations to Doha, Qatar. Since December 31, 2021, the U.S. interests section at the Embassy of Qatar in Kabul has served as the protecting power for the U.S. in Afghanistan.
The United States recognized Afghanistan, then under the rule of King Amānullāh, on July 26, 1921. Diplomatic relations were established in 1935. The first ambassador appointed to Afghanistan was William H. Hornibrook, who was concurrently commissioned to Persia, as Iran was known then, and resided in Tehran. Until 1942, the U.S. ambassador to Persia/Iran was also the ambassador to Afghanistan. The U.S. legation at Kabul was established on June 6, 1942, with Charles W. Thayer as chargé d’affaires ad interim. Cornelius Van Hemert Engert presented his credentials to the government of Afghanistan on July 2, 1942, as the first envoy solely accredited to Afghanistan.
Ambassador Adolph Dubs was assassinated in a botched kidnapping attempt in 1979. For the next ten years, no ambassador was appointed; only a series of chargés d’affaires represented the U.S. in Kabul. The embassy at Kabul was closed on January 30, 1989, due to concerns that the new regime would not be able to maintain security and protect diplomats following the final departure of Soviet forces from the country.
|Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
|January 22, 1935
|May 4, 1935
|Left Tehran March 16, 1936
| The names of the chargés heading the Afghanistan mission between Hornibrook’s departure in 1936 and the arrival of Dreyfus in 1941 have not been recorded.
|-
|2
|Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr. – Career FSO
|Unknown
|April 3, 2002
|
|-
|14
|Robert Finn – Career FSO
|Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
|March 21, 2002
|April 3, 2002
|Left post August 1, 2004
|
|-
|15
|Zalmay Khalilzad – Political appointee
|Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
|August 17, 2004
|September 28, 2004
|Left post June 20, 2005
|
|-
|16
|Ronald E. Neumann – Career FSO
|Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
|June 27, 2005
|August 1, 2005
|Left post April 10, 2007
|
|-
|17
|William Braucher Wood – Career FSO
|Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
|March 28, 2007
|April 16, 2007
|April 9, 2009
|
|-
|18
|Karl Eikenberry – Political appointee
|Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
|April 3, 2009
|May 21, 2009
|July 25, 2011
|
|-
|19
|Ryan Crocker – Career FSO
|Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
|July 7, 2011
|July 25, 2011
|July 13, 2012
|
|-
|20
|James B. Cunningham - Career FSO
|Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
|August 2012, Sworn in as ambassador August 12, 2012.
|August 13, 2012
|December 7, 2014
|
|-
|21
|P. Michael McKinley - Career FSO
|Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
|December 2014
|January 6, 2015
|December 18, 2016
|
|-
| -
|Hugo Llorens
|Career Ambassador and Special Chargé d’Affaires
|
|December 19, 2016
|November 17, 2017
|
|-
|22
|John R. Bass
|Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
|September 28, 2017
|December 12, 2017
|January 6, 2020
|
|-
| -
|Ross L. Wilson
|Chargé d’Affaires
|January 18, 2020
|
|August 31, 2021
|
|- style="background:silver;"
|
| colspan="6" |The U.S. Embassy in Kabul transferred operations to Doha, Qatar, on August 31, 2021, following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Since December 31, the U.S. Interests Section at the Embassy of Qatar in Kabul has served as the protecting power for the U.S. in Afghanistan.
|-
| -
|Ian McCary
|Chargé d’Affaires
|August 31, 2021
|
|July 31, 2022
|
|-
| -
|Karen B. Decker
|Chargé d’Affaires
|August 1, 2022
|
|July 28, 2025
|
|-
| -
|Don Brown
|Chargé d’Affaires
|July 28, 2025
|
|Present
|
|}
Notes
See also
- Embassy of the United States, Kabul
- Afghanistan–United States relations
- Ambassadors of the United States
- Embassy of Afghanistan, Washington, D.C.
- Ambassadors of Afghanistan to the United States
References
- United States Department of State: Background notes on Afghanistan