{{Short description|American diplomat (born 1957)}} {{Third-party|date=February 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Craig B. Allen |image = Ambassador Craig Allen.jpg |office = United States Ambassador to Brunei |president = Barack Obama<br />Donald Trump |term_start = March 9, 2015 |term_end = July 20, 2018 |predecessor = Daniel L. Shields |successor = Matthew J. Matthews |office1 = |president1 = |term_start1 = |term_end1 = |predecessor1= |successor1 = |office2 = |president2 = |term_start2 = |term_end2 = |predecessor2= |successor2 = |birth_date = {{birth year and age|1957}} |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = |spouse = |children = |alma_mater = University of Michigan<br />Georgetown University }}
'''Craig Boyd Allen''' (born 1957) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Brunei from 2014 to 2018.<ref name="OH" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://borneobulletin.com.bn/inspiring-youths-to-overcome-global-challenges/|title=Inspiring youths to overcome global challenges - Borneo Bulletin Online|publisher=|date=2017-12-14|access-date=2018-12-30|archive-date=2019-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202180720/https://borneobulletin.com.bn/inspiring-youths-to-overcome-global-challenges/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Consular career== Allen began working for the Department of Commerce as part of the International Trade Administration in 1985. He began as a Presidential Management Intern and, in 1986, he took up a post at the ITA's China Office. Allen worked there for two years before being moved to the American Institute in Taiwan to be the Director of the American Trade Center in Taipei.<ref name="Em">{{cite web |title=Ambassador Craig B. Allen |url=https://bn.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/our-ambassador/ |website=U.S. Embassy in Brunei Darussalam |accessdate=30 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230233648/https://bn.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/our-ambassador/ |archive-date=30 December 2018}}</ref>
In 1992, Allen re-joined the Department of Commerce and was given a three-year posting in the U.S. embassy in Beijing, where he served as a Commercial Attaché. After the posting, Allen moved to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to be a Commercial Attaché there but in 1998, he was promoted to the post of Deputy Senior Commercial Officer and the next year, Allen became a member of the Senior Foreign Service.<ref name="Em" />
In 2000, Allen was recalled to work at the National Center for APEC in Seattle. Two years later, Allen returned to Beijing to be Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Mission to China, serving under Clark T. Randt Jr. and managing the whole of the Department of Commerce's delegation at the embassy.<ref name="Em" />
In 2006, Allen was assigned to be Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. consulate in Johannesburg and was responsible for the Department of Commerce's operations in all 16 SADC countries. In 2010, Allen became the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia at the ITA and then, in 2012, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for China.<ref name="WH" />
He was nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador to Brunei by President Obama on July 10, 2014, and was confirmed on December 19, 2014.<ref name="WH">{{cite web |title=President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/07/10/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts |website=White House Archive |accessdate=30 December 2018|date=2014-07-10 }}</ref> He presented his credentials on March 9, 2015.<ref name="OH">{{cite web |title=Craig B. Allen (1957–) |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/allen-craig-b |website=Office of the Historian |accessdate=30 December 2018}}</ref>
== Post-Consular Career == In July 2018, the US-China Business Council (USCBC) named Allen to succeed John Frisbie as their president.<ref>{{cite web |title=The US-China Business Council names Craig Allen as its new President |url=https://www.uschina.org/media/press/us-china-business-council-names-craig-allen-its-new-president |website=US-China Business Council |accessdate=30 December 2018|date=2018-06-05 }}</ref>
In July 2022, Allen helped found a group of U.S. business and policy leaders who share the goal of constructively engaging with China in order to improve U.S.-China relations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-07 |title=We Want to Rebuild U.S. Relations With China - WSJ |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-want-to-rebuild-us-china-relations-trade-business-economic-growth-antony-blinken-foreign-policy-11657141306 |access-date=2022-07-07 |archive-date=2022-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707140754/https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-want-to-rebuild-us-china-relations-trade-business-economic-growth-antony-blinken-foreign-policy-11657141306 |url-status=bot: unknown |last1=Greenberg |first1=Maurice R. }}</ref>
In 2024, Allen announced plans to step down as USCBC president by the end of the year. Sean Stein was named as his successor.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2024 |title=USCBC Names Longtime US-China Policy and Business Leader Sean Stein as New President |url=https://www.uschina.org/media/press/uscbc-names-longtime-us-china-policy-and-business-leader-sean-stein-new-president |access-date=September 10, 2024 |website=US-China Business Council}}</ref>
In January 2025, the Cohen Group announced that Allen will join as a senior counselor in February 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ambassador Craig Allen, former President of the U.S.-China Business Council, will join The Cohen Group as a Senior Counselor {{!}} The Cohen Group |url=https://cohengroup.net/ambassador-craig-allen-former-president-us-china-business-council-will-join-cohen-group-senior |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=cohengroup.net |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Commons category}} {{Portal|United States|Politics}} {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box|title=United States Ambassador to Brunei|before=Daniel L. Shields|after=Matthew J. Matthews|years=2015–2018}} {{s-end}}
{{US Ambassadors to Brunei}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Craig Boyd}} Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Brunei Category:University of Michigan alumni Category:Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Category:United States Foreign Service personnel Category:American Institute in Taiwan people