{{Short description|American diplomat (born 1967)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Alexander Laskaris |birth_name = Alexander Mark Laskaris |image = Alexander Laskaris, U.S. Ambassador.jpg |ambassador_from = United States |country = Chad |term_start = August 18, 2022 |term_end = February 28, 2025 |president = Joe Biden<br/>Donald Trump |predecessor = Geeta Pasi |successor = Rick Swart (chargé d'affaires a.i.) |ambassador_from1 = United States |country1 = Guinea |president1 = Barack Obama |term_start1 = August 3, 2012 |term_end1 = November 10, 2015 |predecessor1 = Patricia Moller |successor1 = Dennis B. Hankins |birth_date = {{birth year and age|1967}} |birth_place = Monterey, California, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |spouse = |children = |education = Georgetown University (BA)<br />United States Army War College (MSS) }}
'''Alexander Mark Laskaris''' (born 1967) is an American diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to Chad from August 2022 to February 2025. He also served as the United States ambassador to Guinea from 2012 to 2015. Laskaris was the faculty leader in the National War College at the National Defense University.<ref name="NWC" >{{cite web |title=Faculty Biography - Laskaris, AMB Alexander - DOS |url=https://nwc.ndu.edu/About/Faculty/ArticleView/Article/1927163/laskaris-amb-alexander-dos/ |website=National War College |accessdate=21 September 2019}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Laskaris was born in Monterey, California in 1967. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in international politics from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Spero|first=Domani|date=2012-05-31|title=Officially In: Alexander M. Laskaris – from Erbil, Iraq to the Republic of Guinea|url=https://diplopundit.net/2012/05/31/officially-in-alexander-m-laskaris-from-erbil-iraq-to-the-republic-of-guinea/|access-date=2022-01-19|website=Diplopundit|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Career== Before joining the Foreign Service, Laskaris was an English and math teacher at St. Boniface High School in Galeshewe, Northern Cape in South Africa.<ref>{{cite web |title=An Interview with Alexander Mark Laskaris, U.S. Ambassador to Guinea |url=http://thepolitic.org/an-interview-with-mark-laskaris-u-s-ambassador-to-guinea/ |website=The Politic |date=15 August 2013 |accessdate=21 September 2019}}</ref>
Laskaris joined the United States Foreign Service in 1991 and was first posted to Monrovia, Liberia as vice-consul, during the ongoing Civil War. In 1993, Laskaris was posted to Gaborone, Botswana as political and economic officer, staying there for two years before serving as desk officer for Rwanda and Burundi. In 1997, Laskaris was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Luanda, Angola to serve as a political counselor.<ref name="AG">{{cite web |title=Ambassador to Guinea: Who is Alex Laskaris? |url=http://www.allgov.com/news/appointments-and-resignations/ambassador-to-guinea-who-is-alex-laskaris?news=844698 |website=AllGov |accessdate=18 December 2018}}</ref>
In 1999, Laskaris was recalled to work at the United States Department of State, first as an advisor on the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, working under Richard Holbrooke, and then, in 2001, as part of Secretary of State Colin Powell's Policy Planning Staff.<ref>{{cite web |title=Laskaris, Alexander |url=https://de.linkedin.com/in/laskaris-alexander-4103b35 |website=LinkedIn |accessdate=18 December 2018}}</ref>
Laskaris returned to Africa in 2003 to be deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Bujumbura, Burundi and in 2006, took up the same post in Pristina, Kosovo, serving there during the international talks led by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Spero |first1=Domani |title=Officially In: Alexander M. Laskaris – from Erbil, Iraq to the Republic of Guinea |url=https://diplopundit.net/2012/05/31/officially-in-alexander-m-laskaris-from-erbil-iraq-to-the-republic-of-guinea/ |website=Diplopundit |date=31 May 2012 |accessdate=18 December 2018}}</ref>
In 2008, Laskaris was appointed team leader for the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mosul, Iraq. From the summer of 2009 until his next appointment in 2010, Laskaris took a course in Kurdish. In 2010 he was given the job of consul general in the consulate in Erbil, Iraq.<ref name="AG" />
In January 2016, Laskaris joined the United States Africa Command as deputy to Commander Thomas D. Waldhauser.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ambassador Alexander M. Laskaris, U.S. Dept. of State |url=https://www.africom.mil/about-the-command/leadership/deputy-to-the-commander-for-civil-military-engagement |website=United States Africa Command |accessdate=18 December 2018}}</ref> In July 2019, he began leading seminars at the National War College as a faculty member.<ref name="NWC" />
===Ambassador to Guinea=== On May 24, 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Laskaris to be the next U.S. ambassador to Guinea.<ref>{{cite web |title=President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/24/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts |website=White House |access-date=1 July 2022 |language=en |date=24 May 2012}}</ref> Hearings on his nomination were held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 12, 2012. The committee favorably reported his nomination on July 26, 2012. He was confirmed by the Senate on August 2, 2012, and presented his credentials in September 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=PN1696 - Nomination of Alexander Mark Laskaris for Department of State, 112th Congress (2011-2012) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/112th-congress/1696 |website=www.congress.gov |access-date=1 July 2022 |date=2 August 2012}}</ref> Laskaris left the post on November 10, 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexander Mark Laskaris (1967-) |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/laskaris-alexander-m |website=Office of the Historian |accessdate=18 December 2018}}</ref>
===Ambassador to Chad=== In January 2022, Laskaris was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as the United States ambassador to Chad.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-01-19|title=President Biden Announces Nominees for Ambassadors and Key Roles|url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/01/19/president-biden-announces-nominees-for-ambassadors-and-key-roles/|access-date=2022-01-19|website=The White House|language=en-US}}</ref> Hearings on his nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 10, 2022. The committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate floor on May 18, 2022. On July 14, 2022, his nomination was confirmed by voice vote.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 14, 2022 |title=PN1693 - Nomination of Alexander Mark Laskaris for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/117th-congress/1693 |access-date=July 15, 2022 |website=www.congress.gov}}</ref> He presented his credentials to Mahamat Déby, the President of the Transitional Military Council, on August 18, 2022.<ref name="td.embassy.gov">{{cite web|url=https://td.usembassy.gov/ambassador-extraordinary-and-plenipotentiary-of-the-united-states-to-the-republic-of-chad-alexander-laskaris/|website=td.usembassy.gov|title=AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE REPUBLIC OF CHAD, ALEXANDER LASKARIS|date=August 19, 2022}}</ref> He left his post on February 27, 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 28, 2025 |title=Farewell message |url=https://www.facebook.com/ndjamena.usembassy/posts/pfbid02GLpR6VkFNMVfGjeArHQtqeG3yr3PvsfSZ1hZiUaoXjPSb7bXciniQrmtCkxugea2l |access-date=March 2, 2025 |website=U.S. Embassy N'Djamena (Facebook) |quote=À mes frères et sœurs tchadiens : merci de m'avoir accueillie dans votre pays, vos communautés et vos familles. Je pars aujourd'hui avec un profond amour pour cette nation et son peuple travailleur, entreprenant et chaleureux. Je souhaite que vous et vos enfants viviez dans la paix, la santé et la prospérité. Que Dieu bénisse le Tchad et tous les Tchadiens. Votre frère, Alex!}}</ref>
==Personal life== Laskaris speaks French, Albanian, Greek, Spanish, Kurdish, Soussou, Portuguese and studied Chadian Arabic.<ref name="AG" /><ref name="NWC" /><ref name="td.embassy.gov"/>
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==References== {{Portal|Politics}} {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{s-bef|before=Patricia Moller}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Ambassador to Guinea|years=2012–2015}} {{s-aft|after=Dennis B. Hankins}} {{s-bef|before=Jessica Davis Ba<br>Chargé d'Affaires}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Ambassador to Chad|years=2022–2025}} {{s-aft|after=Rick Swart<br>chargé d'affaires a.i.}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laskaris, Alexander Mark}} Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American diplomats Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Chad Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Guinea Category:Georgetown University alumni Category:United States Army War College alumni Category:United States Foreign Service personnel