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Puneet Talwar, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs, Department of State
Puneet Talwar is a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Iran, Iraq, and the Gulf States on the White House National Security Staff, a position he has held since 2009. Prior to this, Mr. Talwar served as a Senior Professional Staff Member on the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate (SFRC) from 2001 to 2009 and from 1997 to 1999, and was the chief advisor on the Middle East to then Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., SFRC Chairman. He served as a member of the Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff from 1999 to 2001. From 1992 to 1995, he served as a foreign policy advisor to Representative Thomas C. Sawyer, and from 1990 to 1992 as an official with the United Nations. He received a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.A. from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.