Ambassador Johnnie Carson was sworn in as assistant secretary of state for the bureau of African affairs, on May 7, 2009. Prior to this he was the national intelligence officer for Africa at the National Intelligence Council, after serving as the senior vice president of the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. (2003-2006).

Ambassador Carson's 37-year foreign service career includes ambassadorships to Kenya (1999-2003), Zimbabwe (1995-1997), and Uganda (1991-1994); and principal deputy assistant secretary for the bureau of African Affairs (1997-1999). Earlier in his career he had assignments in Portugal (1982-1986), Botswana (1986-1990), Mozambique (1975-1978), and Nigeria (1969-1971). He has also served as desk officer in the Africa section at State's bureau of intelligence and research (1971-1974); staff officer for the secretary of state (1978-1979), and staff director for the Africa Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives (1979-1982).

Before joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Carson was a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania from 1965-1968. He has a bachelor's in history and political science from Drake University and a master's in international relations from the School of Oriental and Africa Studies at the University of London.

Ambassador Carson is the recipient of several Superior Honor Awards from the Department of State and a Meritorious Service Award from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The Centers for Disease Control presented him with its highest award, "Champion of Prevention Award," for his leadership in directing the U.S. Government's HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in Kenya.

Publications By Johnnie

Suddenly, Senegal Is a New Risk for Democracy in Africa

Suddenly, Senegal Is a New Risk for Democracy in Africa

Thursday, February 8, 2024

By: Ambassador Johnnie Carson;  Joseph Sany, Ph.D.

The sudden actions by Senegal’s president to postpone this month’s presidential election by 10 months threaten to seriously undermine political stability and peace in a nation that has been a resilient democracy in West Africa, where multiple military coups d’état have occurred in recent years. This move poses risks of authoritarianism, violence and economic setbacks for Senegal’s 17 million people, and deeper regional insecurity. Friends of Senegal and democracy, in the United States, Africa and beyond, must unite behind the clear desire of Senegal’s people to maintain peaceful, freely elected democracy under its constitution.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance

10 Years On, Mandela’s Model Can Build Peace in a Despairing World

10 Years On, Mandela’s Model Can Build Peace in a Despairing World

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

By: Ambassador Johnnie Carson

Americans and people worldwide are alarmed, even despairing, at our world’s rise in violent conflict. Amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine and yet another brutal spasm of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, people are rightly asking what changes our governments and communities need to halt this spread of bloodshed, notes Ambassador Johnnie Carson, a dean of diplomacy and peacebuilding. Days from now, the world will mark 10 years since the death of Nelson Mandela, the liberation leader, South African president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Mandela’s example, Carson says, offers reminders of what we need today to turn back the tide of warfare.

Type: Analysis

Global PolicyReconciliation

USIP’s Mandela Series

USIP’s Mandela Series

Friday, November 3, 2023

By: Ambassador Johnnie Carson

After spending 27 years in prison, many expected Nelson Mandela to emerge as a man full of bitterness and anger toward those who had imprisoned him. Instead, he emerged as a towering figure of peace and justice whose own self-sacrifice and leadership were instrumental in ending the brutal apartheid system in South Africa. USIP’s Ambassador Johnnie Carson discusses the Institute’s new Mandela Series — a collection of lectures and seminars from notable peacebuilders that celebrates Mandela’s life and explores how his legacy can guide those seeking a better, more peaceful future.

Type: Blog

Nonviolent ActionPeace Processes

West Africa’s Leaders Face the High Stakes of Niger’s Coup

West Africa’s Leaders Face the High Stakes of Niger’s Coup

Thursday, August 10, 2023

By: Ambassador Johnnie Carson

Amid the global challenges to building international stability and peace, a crisis increasingly forcing itself to the foreground — even amid those of record human displacement, climate degradation and unresolved wars — is the plunge by six countries across Africa’s Sahel region into coups d’état and military rule. Eight coups since 2020 have left 150 million people under rule by their armed forces. The latest coup, in Niger, is drawing a heightened international response, and a key player, the 15-nation West African community, today that it will pursue a long campaign of economic and diplomatic pressure, and that it sees military force as a last resort.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

Ask the Experts: What’s Next for U.S. Policy in Africa

Ask the Experts: What’s Next for U.S. Policy in Africa

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

By: Ambassador Johnnie Carson;  Andrew Cheatham

USIP’s Andrew Cheatham spoke with Ambassador Johnnie Carson — the newly named special presidential representative for U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit implementation — to discuss the Biden administration’s post-summit goals, what African leaders hope to take away from the talks, and why this moment offers a unique chance to reframe the U.S. approach toward Africa.

Type: Blog

Global Policy

View All