George Moose

George Moose
Representative to the United Nations in Geneva
In office 1997–2001
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Daniel L. Spiegel
Succeeded by	James Brendan Foley
11th Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
In office 1993–1997
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Herman Jay Cohen
Succeeded by	Susan E. Rice
United States Ambassador to Senegal
In office 1988–1991
President	George H. W. Bush Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Lannon Walker
Succeeded by	Katherine Shirley
United States Ambassador to Benin
In office 1983–1986
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	James B. Engle
Succeeded by	Walter Edward Stadtler
Personal details
Born	George Edward Moose (1944-06-23) June 23, 1944 New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Diplomat

George Edward Moose (born June 23, 1944) is an American diplomat who has served as the chair of the board of directors of the United States Institute of Peace since 2021. He formerly served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1993 to 1997, Representative to the United Nations in Geneva from 1997 to 2001, and as Ambassador to the Republics of Benin and Senegal in the 1980s and 1990s. He is primarily known for serving as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the Clinton Administration during the Rwandan genocide.

Moose was fired as CEO and from the USIP board on 14 March 2025 by the Trump administration. The reason cited was noncompliance with a recent executive order on repurposing federally-supported foreign assistance.

Biography

George Moose was born in New York City in 1944 and was raised in Denver, Colorado. He earned a degree from Grinnell College and attended the Maxwell School of Syracuse University before entering the Foreign Service in 1967. Ambassador Moose had early assignments in Washington D.C., Barbados, Vietnam, and the U.N. in New York. He speaks Vietnamese and French.

Secretary Moose headed the American delegation which participated in the first Tokyo International Conference on African Development in October 1993.

In 2002 he was promoted to the rank of Career Ambassador.

Moose is currently teaching a course at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs entitled "Reinventing the United Nations" and is currently a fellow at the Harvard University Institute of Politics, where he leads a study group on Africa in the multilateral system. He has served on the Board of Directors of Search for Common Ground since 2003.

Moose was fired as CEO and removed as president of the US Institute of Peace (USIP) board on 14 March 2025 as part of efforts by the Trump White House to redirect or terminate federally‑supported foreign assistance programs. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly cited USIP's "noncompliance" with a recent executive order from president Trump as the reason for his dismissal. Kelly said "Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage. The Trump administration will enforce the president's executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people." Moose vowed legal action, saying that "What has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private non-profit". The USIP is not part of the federal government.

External links

• Legacy Archived 2012-12-20 at archive.today Ambassador George E.Moose donated high-definition audiovisual life story interviews to Legacy.
• United States Department of State: Career of George Edward Moose
• Appearances on C-SPAN