Yousef Al Otaiba

His Excellency Yousef Al Otaiba
Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States of America
United States

His Excellency Yousef Al Otaiba (elected in 2010), the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States of America, took up his Washington-based post in July 2008. Previously, Ambassador Al Otaiba served for seven years as the Director of International Affairs for the Court of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. During that time, he was a senior counselor to HH General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

In these roles, Ambassador Al Otaiba has helped strengthen the UAE’s security and economic relations throughout the region, with the United States and with other nations. His responsibilities saw him serve as the UAE’s principal security, anti-terrorism and defense liaison to other governments and he was heavily involved in diplomatic efforts to improve regional security and defense cooperation. These efforts have included working to enhance UAE enforcement of export control laws and policy and coordinating counter proliferation activities with allies.

Most recently, Ambassador Al Otaiba has helped guide Abu Dhabi’s leadership in multinational discussions on best practices for sovereign wealth funds. This activity was an extension of Ambassador Al Otaiba’s efforts to promote and deepen trade relationships between the UAE and other government, commercial, and private sector entities. For several years, Ambassador Al Otaiba has facilitated meetings between the UAE and other foreign economic interests, which have resulted in numerous mutually beneficial cooperative and partnership agreements. Ambassador Al Otaiba obtained a degree in international relations from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, after graduating from the Cairo American College. He also attended the Industrial College of the US Armed Forces at the National Defense University in Washington, DC as an International Fellow.