Carlos Pascual, Stanford class of 1980, has been named the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.  In an auspicious start to his new role as the nation’s envoy to Mexico, Pascual joined President Obama in Guadalajara, Mexico on August 9 at the start of a mini-summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The annual meeting – dubbed the “three amigos” summit – was started four years ago as a way for the three neighboring countries to build on ties established by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and to address contentious trade and immigration issues.  Also on the summit agenda this year were the economic crisis, the fight to avert protectionism, climate change, the swine flu epidemic and the battle against drug trafficking.

A seasoned and skilled diplomat, Pascual formerly served as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (2000-03).  From 1998 to 2000 he was special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia on the National Security Council (NCS) and director for the same region from 1995 to 1998.

“Carlos was my student, my deputy, and my successor at the NSC,” said FSI Director Coit Blacker, the Olivier Nomellini Professor in International Studies, who served in the first Clinton administration as special assistant to the president for National Security Affairs and senior director for Russian, Ukrainian, and Eurasian affairs on the NSC. “The U.S. Embassy in Mexico is the largest of all our diplomatic posts.  He’ll have his hands full, but what a way to start his tenure as the new U.S. ambassador.”

Before joining the Obama administration, Pascual served as vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Studies program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.  In 2007, he joined with FSI Senior Fellow Stephen Stedman, Director of the Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies, and Bruce Jones, director of the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, in a new initiative called “Managing Global Insecurity.”  The effort sought to galvanize more effective action against transnational threats and to build the political will and support networks needed to reform major international institutions.  In 2009, the three released their new book, Power and Responsibility: Building International Order in an Era of Transnational Threats, with hard-hitting policy recommendations for restoring American leadership, revitalizing international institutions, tackling shared threats, and internationalizing crisis response.

Prior to joining Brookings, Pascual served as coordinator for reconstruction and stabilization at the State Department, where he led planning to help stabilize and reconstruct societies in transition from conflict or civil strife.  He was also coordinator for U.S. assistance to Europe and Eurasia, where he oversaw regional and country assistance strategies to promote market-oriented and democratic states. He also worked for USAID in Sudan, South Africa, and Mozambique.

Pascual received his Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and his BA from Stanford University.