Special Negotiator Named for Nagorno-Karabakh and Eurasian Conflicts

April 16, 2004

Secretary of State Powell has named Ambassador Steven R. Mann to be the Special Negotiatior for Nagorno-Karabakh and Eurasian Conflicts, succeeding Ambassador Rudolf V. Perina. Since May 2001, Ambassador Mann has been the Senior Advisor for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy. As the senior U.S. official dealing with Caspian energy issues, Ambassador Mann is involved in realizing the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, in the launch of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) line, and a range of other Eurasian energy issues. Ambassador Mann will retain his Caspian energy responsibilities while acting as Special Negotiator. In 2003, Ambassador Mann joined the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq where he worked to manage transition of the UN Oil-for-Food Program
Ambassador Mann, from Pennsylvania, joined the Foreign Service in 1976. He has served in a number of foreign and domestic assignments, including Moscow, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Micronesia, and Mongolia. In January 1992, Ambassador Mann conveyed the diplomatic note that established American diplomatic relations with the Armenia. He opened the first United States Embassy in Yerevan and served as the first American Charge d'Affaires in that nation. From 1998 to 2001, he was served as the U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan.
In 1985-86, Ambassador Mann was a Fellow of the Harriman Institute for Advanced Soviet Studies at Columbia University. He is a 1991 Distinguished Graduate of the National War College. Ambassador Mann holds an A.B. degree from Oberlin College and M.A. degrees from Cornell and Columbia Universities. His foreign languages are Russian and German.