As Coordinator, Ambassador Herbst is leading the development of U.S. Government civilian capacity to promote the stabilization and reconstruction of societies in transition from conflict or civil strife, and to provide support to countries at risk of instability. In 2007, the Ambassador led the government-wide effort to institutionalize the Interagency Management System (IMS), a whole-of-government system for planning and managing crisis response. The Coordinator is overseeing the establishment of the Civilian Response Corps of the United States. The Corps’s Active, Standby, and Reserve components will span eight federal government agencies, local governments, and the private sector. The Corps is the U.S. civilian rapid response force for reconstruction and stabilization operations overseas.
In May 2003, Ambassador Herbst was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. During his tenure, he worked to enhance U.S-Ukrainian relations and to help ensure the conduct of a fair Ukrainian presidential election. In Kyiv, he witnessed the Orange Revolution. Prior to that, Ambassador Herbst was the U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan, where he played a critical role in the establishment of an American base to help conduct Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He also promoted improved U.S.-Uzbek relations, in part by encouraging the government in Tashkent to improve its human rights record.
Mr. Herbst previously served as U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem; Principal Deputy to the Ambassador at Large for the Newly Independent States; the Director of the Office of Independent States and Commonwealth Affairs; Director of Regional Affairs in the Near East Bureau; as political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and at the Embassies in Moscow and Saudi Arabia. Both the Presidential Distinguished Service Award and the State Department's Distinguished Honor Award were presented to Mr. Herbst.
He received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Phi Beta Kappa, and a Master of Law and Diplomacy, with Distinction, from the Fletcher School. He also attended the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Bologna Center.
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