Michael Ratney

Michael Ratney's term ended on June 24, 2022.

Michael Ratney, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, is the Acting Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI). Ratney served most recently as Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Previously, he was the Dean of FSI’s School of Language Studies, and prior to that was on the faculty of the National Defense University. Ratney has served as the State Department’s acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Israel and Palestinian Affairs and was the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria. Earlier, he was the U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem. He has been Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Media in the State Department’s Bureau of Public Affairs, and prior to that served as Spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Other assignments include Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar, as well as tours in Mexico City, Baghdad, Beirut, Casablanca, Bridgetown, and Washington, DC. Ratney earned a BS from Boston University, and an MA from the George Washington University. He is the recipient of multiple State Department performance awards, including six Senior Foreign Service Performance awards and a Presidential Meritorious Service award, and speaks Arabic and French.