<span class="vcard">Charles O. (Cob) Blaha</span>

Charles O. (Cob) Blaha

Guest Author

Charles O. (Cob) Blaha was Director of the State Department’s Office of Security and Human Rights from 2016 until he retired in 2023. Among other duties, that office is responsible for implementing Leahy vetting worldwide and for ensuring that human rights and international humanitarian law considerations are taken into account in decisions on security assistance and arms transfers. He is a Senior Advisor to Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).

Mr. Blaha joined the State Department in 1991, serving as both a Foreign Service Officer and a Civil Servant. His overseas assignments included Panama, Cuba, Turkey, Iraq, the Czech Republic, and the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, where he focused primarily on issues in the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Before joining the State Department, Mr. Blaha was a trial attorney in the Milwaukee office of the Wisconsin State Public Defender for ten years.

Mr. Blaha holds a B.A., magna cum laude, from Duke University, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He speaks Spanish and Turkish.

Articles by this author:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations | Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs at the Rayburn House Office Building on May 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. Rubio testified on the proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of State. (Photo by John McDonnell/Getty Images)
A doctor walks through the halls in a bombed Gaza hospital
US Department of State building with sign in front
US Department of State building with sign in front
Secretary of State Antony Blinken sits in a dark suit and tie to testify before a Congressional committee.

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