Donald Yamamoto

Donald Y. Yamamoto
Born 1953 (age 64–65)
Seattle, Washington
Occupation Diplomat

Donald Yukio Yamamoto (born 1953[1]) was the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs with a term of appointment starting September 3, 2017 until July 23, 2018. He previously served as the Senior Vice President, International Programs and Outreach at the National Defense University from 2016-2017. Prior to that, he was Senior Advisor to the Director General of the Foreign Service on personnel reform from 2015-2016; Charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Mission Somalia office in Mogadishu in 2016; and in senior positions in Kabul, Mazar e-Sharif, and Bagram, Afghanistan from 2014-2015.[2]

He was the former acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (March 30, 2013 to August 5, 2013), U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia (2006–2009) and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary within the Bureau of African Affairs. He was appointed by President George W. Bush in November 2006 and presented his credentials to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa on December 6, 2006.[3] He was formerly the U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti (2000-2003), and U.S. Ambassador to Eritrea ad interim (1997-1998).

Personal History

Yamamoto was born in Seattle, Washington and later graduated from Columbia University.[4]

Yamamoto entered the United States Foreign Service in 1980, serving primarily in Africa, with assignments in the Middle East and Asia. He received a Master’s Degree from the National War College in 1996 and worked on Capitol Hill on a Congressional Fellowship in 1991.[2]

Ambassador Yamamoto graduated from Columbia College and received a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University. He is the recipient of a Presidential Distinguished Service Award, Presidential Meritorious Service Award, Secretary’s Distinguished Honor Award, over a dozen Senior Performance Awards, the State Department's 2006 Robert Frasure Memorial Award for advancing conflict resolution in Africa, and numerous other awards.[2]

U.S.-Chadian relations

From April 22–23, 2006, Yamamoto met with current Chadian President Idriss Déby to discuss Chad's dispute with the World Bank over allocation of its petroleum funds and the possibility of a U.S.-led, United Nations-monitored peace keeping force to end the Chadian-Sudanese conflict.

The Government of Chad repeatedly accused the Government of Sudan of complicity in United Front for Democratic Change incursions from Darfur into eastern Chad. Yamamoto is the first official in any government outside of Chad to repeat this claim, saying, "It is evident that there was safe haven and logistical support provided to rebel groups."[5]

Chad produces around 100,000 bpd (barrels of oil per day, 2013 figures) which travels through the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, owned and operated by US companies ExxonMobil and Chevron and Malaysian Petronas. The Déby administration threatened to cut off the supply of oil at the end of April if the international community did not intervene to end the rebellion or if Exxon Mobil did not pay the government $100 million.[6] The dispute was later resolved, and Chad's oil continues to flow to other countries.

Chadian-Sudanese conflict

Yamamoto tried unsuccessfully to convince President Déby to delay the upcoming presidential election which was held on May 3. He later said, "We held a very direct and private discussion on the issue [of whether to postpone the election]... When people say that it's too late to delay an election... it's never too late to do anything. We must focus on what is important... to have a process in place and actual ability of all the people to participate in the process. Any election that doesn't have full participation of all groups then raises issues that they would have to answer for."[7]

U.S.-Ethiopian relations

Yamamoto met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on April 22, 2006, to discuss the ongoing process of democratization in Ethiopia and the Ethio-Eritrea boundary dispute. Both leaders were positive about the outcome of the meeting.[8]

Assistant Secretary of State

Yamamoto became acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs on March 30, 2013, replacing Johnnie Carson.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Donald Y. Yamamoto (1953-)". Office of the Historian. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ambassador Donald Yamamoto". National Defense University. Retrieved 10 October 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ↑ "Donald Y. Yamamoto sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia". Embassy Press Release.
  4. ↑ "US State Department Biography: Donald Y. Yamamoto". Archived from the original on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  5. ↑ "Senior US diplomat says 'never too late' to postpone Chad's May election". AFP. 2006-04-25.
  6. ↑ "Exxon Mobil still talking with Chad, output normal". Reuters AlertNet. 2006-04-26.
  7. ↑ "Diplomat Discussed Delaying Chad Election". Associated Press. 2006-04-25.
  8. ↑ "Ethiopia: U.S. Views Democratization Process in Ethiopia Positively: Yamamoto". The Ethiopian Herald. 2006-04-25.
  9. ↑ "Meet Donald Yamamoto, the man replacing Johnnie Carson". Jambo. 2 April 2013. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Lange Schermerhorn		 United States Ambassador to Djibouti
2000–2006		 Succeeded by
Marguerita Dianne Ragsdale
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