Ambassador Philip S. Kosnett (Ret.) represented the United States in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia during a Foreign Service career focusing on international security and post-conflict governance. Kosnett now consults, comments, and writes on global affairs and has taken on roles in education and humanitarian action.

Kosnett’s senior postings included Ambassador to Kosovo; Charge d’Affaires (acting ambassador) in Turkey and Iceland; and Deputy Chief of Mission (deputy ambassador) in Uzbekistan. He served four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a provincial administrator and senior political-military officer, and held political-economic, counterterrorism, and environmental diplomacy portfolios at U.S. missions in Japan and The Netherlands. He also held policy, crisis management, and intelligence positions in Washington.

Since leaving federal service, Kosnett has established the consultancy Kosnett Associates LLC (KosnettAssociates.com) with his wife Alison Kosnett, a specialist in development and governance. He is affiliated with the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA.org); North Carolina’s Montreat College (Montreat.edu); and the humanitarian response organization AfghanEvac (AfghanEvac.org).

Kosnett has discussed current international challenges on BBC News, Sky News UK, Voice of America, and the American Academy of Diplomacy podcast The General and the Ambassador; and has spoken at universities in the United States, Canada, and Central Asia. An expert on civil-military partnership, Kosnett recently edited the book Boots and Suits: Historical Cases and Contemporary Lessons in Military Diplomacy (Marine Corps University Press, 2023) and has lectured at the George C. Marshall Center and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Kosnett has also re-embraced his first calling, from student days, as a wargame designer.

A graduate of Harvard with a degree in Government, Kosnett has formally studied Turkish, Japanese, Dutch, and Russian. He holds numerous State Department awards, the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service, the Department of the Army Medal for Outstanding Civilian Service, and the Republic of Kosovo Order of Dr. Ibrahim Rugova.

Philip and Alison Kosnett and their adopted Kosovo street dog divide their time between the city of Atlanta and the North Carolina mountains. Their son Alex is an environmental planner; daughter Nicole a producer and artist.