UNITED STATES SENATE
SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of
Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service
Act, Section 304(a)(4)
POST: Malaysia
CANDIDATE: Edgard Kagan
Edgard Kagan, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, is the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania at the National Security Council. Mr. Kagan has previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassies in New Delhi, India and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Mr. Kagan’s extensive experience in senior leadership roles within the region and in Washington make him a well-qualified candidate to serve as Ambassador to Malaysia.
Mr. Kagan has also served as Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, India, and as Deputy Director of the Washington Office of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Earlier, he was Director of Korean Affairs and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Japan and Korea in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Overseas assignments include Economic and then Political/Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia, and Political Officer and then Political External Unit Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, PRC. He has also served abroad in Israel, Hungary and Cote d’Ivoire.
Mr. Kagan earned his Bachelor’s degree at Yale University. He is the recipient of the Presidential Meritorious Award and numerous State Department performance awards. He speaks French, Mandarin Chinese, Hungarian and Spanish.