Mr. Raffi Gregorian brings to the United Nations over 33 years of academic, diplomatic and military experience in counter-terrorism and international peace and security. As Deputy to the Under Secretary-General and Director of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), Mr. Gregorian directs the 150-person office headquartered in New York, chairing its Programme Review Board and representing the office in the Secretary-General’s Deputies Committee.
Prior to his appointment by the Secretary-General in September 2019, Mr. Gregorian was Director of Multilateral Affairs in the Bureau of Counterterrorism of the U.S. Department of State as well as Acting Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism (2017-2018) and Director for the Office of Peace Operations, Sanctions, and Counterterrorism (2012-2015). In this latter capacity, he initiated the first new U.S. peacekeeping policy in 25 years, led a number of important peacekeeping reforms, and helped secure full funding for the UN peacekeeping budget. Mr. Gregorian’s field experience includes leading two multinational missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) as well as military service in BiH, Kosovo, and the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C. In BiH he was Supervisor of Brčko District (2006-2010), Principal Deputy High Representative (2007-2010) and for several months also Acting High Representative, having first served as Political Advisor for NATO Headquarters Sarajevo and Co-Chairman of the BiH Defense Reform Commission (2004-2006).
His previous State Department service included serving as chief of staff to the Special Adviser to the President and Secretary of State for Kosovo and Dayton Implementation and Acting Director for Kosovo Implementation. Besides several years as a senior analyst for commercial defense companies, Mr. Gregorian also worked on the official history of the Vietnam War for the U.S. Army. Author of a number of academic and intelligence publications, Mr. Gregorian holds a Doctorate in International Relations and Strategic Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, a Master of Arts in War Studies from King’s College London, and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in History from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of several academic publications.
