An expert on U.S. foreign policy around the globe and a top
White House adviser on Middle Eastern issues, Elliott Abrams has served in major foreign policy positions for two Republican U.S. Presidents, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. During President Bush's first term in office, he served initially as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Democracy, Human Rights and International Operations. In 2002, he was appointed to the post of Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director on the National Security Council for Near East and North African Affairs. At the start of President Bush's second term, Mr. Abrams was promoted to be his Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy, in charge of promoting President Bush's strategy of advancing democracy abroad and of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Mr. Abrams served in the State Department during all eight years of the Reagan Administration. In January 1981 Mr. Abrams became Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. In this capacity he supervised United States participation in the United Nations system. Later that year, he was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs. During President Reagan’s second term, Mr. Abrams was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, where he supervised U.S. policy in Latin America and the Caribbean. In August 1988, Mr. Abrams received the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award from Secretary George P. Shultz for his work in the Department.