David Lindwall arrived in Stockholm in 2016 after serving for two years as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. In over 31 years in the United States Foreign Service, he has served in political and senior management positions in Latin America, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Throughout his career, Mr. Lindwall has served in countries where promoting democracy and human rights were among the United States’ highest policy priorities.

From 2012 to 2014, he served as Consul General in Guayaquil, Ecuador, managing the operations of the largest U.S. consulate on South America’s Pacific coast. During the 2011-2012 U.S. military transition in Iraq, Mr. Lindwall served as Counselor for Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, where he coordinated the State Department’s role in the transition and represented the United States on the trilateral commission that worked with the Kurds and the Iraqi national government to resolve differences in areas of overlapping jurisdiction. Mr. Lindwall was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti at the time of the devastating 2010 earthquake. Among other duties, he coordinated disaster assistance activities and worked with the Government of Haiti and donor nations to develop the policy framework for reconstruction programs. His actions in the aftermath of the earthquake earned him the State Department’s Baker-Wilkins Award for Outstanding Deputy Chief of Mission in 2010.

Mr. Lindwall served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Guatemala from 2006 to 2009, where he played a role in coordinating inter-agency rule of law programs, lobbying Guatemala’s Congress for CAFTA-compliant legislation and adoption reform, and overseeing inter-agency support for national elections.

From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Lindwall served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, overseeing the work of the Offices of Central American Affairs and Cuban Affairs. Prior to that, he served as Director of Central American Affairs (2004-2005).

Mr. Lindwall served as Political Counselor/Chief of the Political Section in Guatemala (2001-2004), Asunción (1998-2001) and Quito (1995-1998). In these positions he led U.S. Government initiatives in support of human rights, participated in the negotiations that put an end to the Upper Cenepa River War between Ecuador and Peru, and coordinated the U.S. response to the collapse of freely-elected governments in Ecuador and Paraguay.

From 1993-1995 Mr. Lindwall served as Alternate Permanent Representative at the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States, representing the United States on the Committee on Political and Juridical Affairs and serving as the point person for OAS support of efforts to resolve the Belize-Guatemala border dispute.

Mr. Lindwall joined the Department of State in 1985 and served as Vice Consul in Bogotá, Colombia; Macroeconomic Reporting Officer in Madrid, Spain; Special Liaison Officer to the Nicaraguan Democratic Resistance (the Contras) in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Political Officer in Managua, Nicaragua. He is the recipient of numerous State Department Superior Honor Awards and in 2016 was awarded the Ryan Crocker Award for Exceptional Leadership in Expeditionary Diplomacy for his work in Afghanistan.

Prior to joining the State Department, Mr. Lindwall worked for the Panama Canal Company. He is a native of California.