HONOLULU (Sept. 10) – Leslie M. Tsou, an 18-year veteran of the State Department’s Foreign Service, has joined the East-West Center for a one-year post as a visiting research fellow and diplomat-in-residence. Tsou will be at the Center through the end of June 2010.
She most recently served as the Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in London, where she was the primary point person on Middle East issues, Iraq, Muslim engagement, and the United Kingdom’s domestic political system.
Tsou was also the first U.S. diplomat to return to Libya after 25 years of severed relations. Following her efforts to restore diplomatic relations, which facilitated the establishment of the mission in 2004, she served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Tripoli. In previous years, as the Libya Desk Officer in Washington, D.C., she served on the negotiating team that resolved the issues around the 1988 Pan AM flight 103 bombing, resulting in the lifting of U.N. sanctions against Libya. Earlier posts include Kuwait, Poland, and the Office of the U.S. Secretary of State.
Tsou received numerous awards from the U.S. State Department including a Meritorious Honor Award in 2008, a Director General’s Award for Political Reporting in 2003, and two individual Superior Honor Awards.
Originally from Washington, D.C., she speaks Arabic, Polish, French, and Spanish, and holds a degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. While at the East-West Center, she will be researching Arab extremism in non-Arab countries with an emphasis on the Asia Pacific region.
Leslie Tsou can be reached at +1 (808) 944-7247 or via email at tsoul@eastwestcenter.org .
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The EAST-WEST CENTER is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S. government, with additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations and the governments of the region.
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