On November 5, 2013, the U.S. Senate confirmed by unanimous vote Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr. as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Indonesia.

Ambassador Blake is a career Foreign Service Officer. He entered the Foreign Service in 1985. He has served at the American Embassies in Tunisia, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt. He held a number of positions at the State Department in Washington, including senior desk officer for Turkey, Deputy Executive Secretary, and Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs. Ambassador Blake served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission in New Delhi, India from 2003 – 2006, as Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives from 2006 to mid-2009, and as Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs from May 2009 to November 2013.

Mr. Blake earned a B.A. from Harvard College in 1980 and an M.A. in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in 1984.

At his nomination hearing, Ambassador Blake said he will “seek to further the work of predecessors to increase the people-to-people linkages among our citizens through educational and professional exchanges and public-private partnerships to create a long-term foundation for mutual understanding and collaboration”.

Indonesia will be his second ambassadorial posting. He succeeds Scot Marciel who became Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State in August 2013, after serving for three years as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia.