Deborah McCarthy

Deborah McCarthy
United States Ambassador to Lithuania
In office February 5, 2013 – July, 2016
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Anne Derse
Succeeded by	Anne Hall (Designate)
Personal details
Born	1955 (age 60–61)
Alma mater	University of Virginia Georgetown University

Deborah Ann McCarthy is an American diplomat and former Ambassador of the United States of America to Lithuania.

Early life and education

McCarthy spent much of her youth in France and Argentina, where her father served in U.S. missions.^[1][2] McCarthy earned a Bachelor’s in Economics at the University of Virginia in 1976.^[3] She attended Georgetown University, where she received both an M.A. in Economics and an M.S. in Foreign Service. She also has a Certificate in Airline Strategic Management from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).^[4]

Career

Her early career included working for an NGO and a major New York bank.

She then became a career diplomat in the Foreign Service. Her early assignments included tours as Consul General in Montreal, Canada; Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua; and Economic Counselor in Paris, France and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She also served as the financial economist at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy and at the U.S. Department of Treasury as well as desk officer for Guatemala. She served as Senior Advisor for Counter Terrorism from 2004 to 2006, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. From 2008 to 2010, McCarthy served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, and from 2006 to 2008, Special Coordinator for Venezuelan Affairs. Prior to being nominated as Ambassador to Lithuania, McCarthy was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, responsible for global economic engagement and negotiations from 2010 to 2013.^[5]

On September 13, 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama nominated her to replace Anne Derse as U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania.^[6] After her nomination was approved,^[7] she began her ambassadorial assignment on February 5, 2013 and finished her term in July, 2016.

Ms. McCarthy is the recipient of the Presidential Merit Service Award, four Superior Honor Awards, and six Senior Foreign Service Performance Awards.

The U.S. Air Force brought two Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor tactical stealth fighter aircraft to Lithuania on April 27, 2015 for several hours. McCarthy said that the visit of the U.S. Air Force jets demonstrated the American support of NATO and “commitment to Article 5 of the Washington treaty and collective defense".^[8]

Personal

McCarthy speaks French, Spanish, Greek, Italian and Haitian Creole.

References

1. An Interview with Deborah A. McCarthy, U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania The Politic, December 19, 2013
2. "Diplomatic Discourse" by Justin Schuster, Eric Stern, p. 343
3. Diplomatic Wahoos University of Virginia, Jan 4, 2016
4. Deborah A. McCarthy U.S. Department of State, accessed February 17, 2016
5. Deborah A. McCarthy U.S. Department of State, accessed February 17, 2016
6. Ambassador to Lithuania: Who Is Deborah A. McCarthy? ALLGOV, October 13, 2012
7. U.S. Senate Confirms Next U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania The Lithuania Tribune, Jan 3, 2013
8. F22-Raptor visit to Lithuania shows "NATO ready and capable of deterring any type of threats" - Grybauskaite The Baltic Times, April 28, 2016

• Testimony on Narco-Terrorism: International Drug Trafficking and Terrorism – A dangerous Mix. May 20, 2003. Senate Judiciary committee and State Department Archive: -05/20/03
• Sean Federico-O’Murchu. July 2, 2003. “Plan Colombia gets Expensive”. NBC News.
• CNN. Lou Dobbs Tonight . “The Forgottten War”. Interview with Deborah McCarthy, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. August 4, 2003.
• Testimony on Hurricane Katrina. Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth: A Post-Katrina Review of International Disaster Assistance. April 6, 2006. House Committee on Government Reform.
• “US-Venezuela Energy Ties Endure Despite Deteriorating Political Relations”, Voice of America, October 31, 2009.
• Interview with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. March 30, 2013. China Daily.
• Testimony on the United States-Rwanda Bilateral Investment Treaty. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. June 7, 2011.
• Testimony of Ambassador Designate Deborah McCarthy to the Republic of Lithuania. November 28, 2012.
• “Defending the Tower in the Age of Twitter” Lithuanian Lessons on Russian Disinformation”. The Ambassador’s Review, Council of American Ambassadors, spring 2015.
• Kenneth Rapoza (October 18, 2015), “How Lithuania is kicking Russia to the Curb”, Forbes.