WASHINGTON, DC, December 14, 2020 – The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington has announced its founding executive vice president, Ambassador Stephen A. Seche, will step down from his position at the end of the year. Seche helped guide the institute for nearly six years, a period marked by considerable growth in staff, programming, and output. In the process, AGSIW has become a reliable source for analysis on the Gulf Arab states for policymakers, scholars, the business community, and an increasingly informed Gulf and U.S. public. A former ambassador to Yemen, Seche was integral in developing the institute’s deep archive and extensive programming on the country, building a dedicated group of Yemen experts working to end the devastating conflict.
“Steve Seche helped lay the foundation stones of AGSIW on which he built a solid and thriving organization,” said AGSIW Board Chair Ambassador Frank G. Wisner. “His positive impact on the institute and its work has been incalculable.”
Assuming the role of executive vice president will be Ambassador William V. Roebuck. Roebuck most recently served as the deputy special envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and a senior advisor to the Special Representative for Syria Engagement Ambassador James Jeffrey. Prior to his appointment, Roebuck served as a senior advisor to Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk from January to December 2018. Roebuck served as ambassador to Bahrain from 2015-17. He was appointed deputy assistant secretary for Maghreb Affairs in January 2013 and assumed additional responsibility for Egypt Affairs in January 2014. He served as Chargé d’Affaires in Tripoli, Libya from January to June 2013, earning the Ryan C. Crocker Award for Outstanding Leadership in Expeditionary Diplomacy. He has served in various other State Department posts in Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Washington, DC. Prior to joining the State Department, Roebuck worked as an English teacher and school administrator in Taif, Saudi Arabia from 1982-87. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in Cote d’Ivoire from 1978-81.
“Bill Roebuck spent his career on the front lines of American diplomacy,” commented AGSIW President Ambassador Doug Silliman. “His deep experience working in the Gulf and across the Arab world gives him unparalleled knowledge and experience that he will bring to bear to support AGSIW’s mission.”
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The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (AGSIW), launched in 2015, is an independent, nonprofit institution dedicated to providing expert research and analysis of the social, economic, and political dimensions of the Gulf Arab states and how they impact domestic and foreign policy. AGSIW focuses on issues ranging from politics and security to economics, trade, and business; from social dynamics to civil society and culture. Through programs, publications, and scholarly exchanges the institute seeks to encourage thoughtful debate and inform the U.S. policy community regarding this critical geostrategic region.
