Dr. Yleem D.S. Poblete has served for three decades in the foreign affairs and national security arena covering virtually every region and functional issue. She recently retired from the U.S. government after more than 23 years of service.
Most recently, she served as Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance where she was the lead Presidential Appointee for the United States on arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament treaties and executive agreements. She was the principal policy community representative with the interagency and intelligence community on verification and compliance matters, utilizing the various programs she oversaw to fund research and identify technologies and methods to enhance U.S. capabilities and advance security priorities. Her areas of responsibility included conventional, nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological weapons, activities in the undersea and outer space domains, as well as diplomatic efforts concerning missile defense and strategic security and deterrence.
Dr. Poblete served in the Senior Executive Service as Senior Advisor at the Department of State prior to her unanimous confirmation by the Senate; was on the National Security Council Agency Action and Landing teams of the Trump for America presidential pre-transition and transition teams; served as an advisor to the National Security group of the Policy Implementation team; and was a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at The Catholic University of America.
She served as Chief of Staff and Staff Director of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was identified by National Journal as one of the “14 Top Women on the Hill”.
Dr. Poblete also served as Republican Minority Chief of Staff and Staff Director of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Staff Director of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia; Staff Director and Deputy Staff Director/Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights; and Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade. While serving on the staff of the Subcommittee on Africa, she also served as a policy advisor for the Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and the Co-Chairman of the Congressional Inter-American Terrorism Task Force. She has worked in academia, at think tanks, an international financial institution, and The White House.
Dr. Poblete is a guest lecturer at universities and presenter at foreign policy conferences and panel discussions; has been interviewed by U.S. and foreign media on international developments; and has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The National Interest, National Review , The Hill, The Washington Times, and The Times of Israel , among others.
She is a skilled negotiator with a proven record of success in working with America’s allies at international forums to advance U.S. interests and in securing the enactment into law of consequential national security legislation on a myriad of issues.
As part of the Poblete Analysis Group LLC, she and her team provide in-depth research, analysis, and strategic advice for U.S. government (USG) projects, senior Members of Congress and their staff, and private sector clients. Dr. Poblete earned a Ph.D. with dual regional concentrations in the Middle East and Western Hemisphere. Her doctoral dissertation focused on: “The Viability of Sanctions as Effective Foreign Policy Tools: The Cases of Iran and Syria .” As a scholarship recipient, she earned a Master of Arts in International Relations with a minor concentration in Communications and, in less than two years, a Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, in International Relations.
Dr. Poblete is a member of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and is active in other charitable organizations and activities.
For more of Ms. Poblete’s media hits, click here.