Ambassador Martina Strong leads the U.S. Mission to the United Arab Emirates.  A career senior foreign service officer, Strong previously served as chargé d’affaires in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as deputy chief of mission in Bulgaria.  Her diplomatic career has spanned 27 years and included two assignments in Iraq, as the political minister counselor in Baghdad and as the U.S. Army’s political advisor in Basrah.

Earlier in her career, Strong was posted in Poland, the Czech Republic, Barbados, Bosnia Herzegovina, and France.  She spent two years as director on the National Security Council at the White House, where she headed the U.S. government’s multi-agency effort to organize the 2004 G-8 Summit in Sea Island, as well as two other G-8 Summits and various multilateral meetings.

Strong is the recipient of the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, numerous Department of State awards, and both the Meritorious Civilian Service Award and the Superior Civilian Service Award for her service in Iraq.  In Bulgaria, the defense minister conferred on Ambassador Strong the Meritorious Service Medal for her contributions to the U.S.-Bulgarian security partnership.  Strong is married to Colonel (ret.) John L. Strong, and they have one daughter.