Vincent Campos is a senior contributor at the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI). In April 2022, Vincent Campos completed an impactful and extraordinary federal career as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO) with the U.S. Department of State and as a commissioned officer with the U.S. Coast Guard. His international assignments as an FSO included Iraq (four times), Chile, Bulgaria, Bahrain and Romania.
Domestically, he served in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and the Bureau of Energy Resources where his various duties included spokesperson, outreach officer, and Iraq analyst.
In 2005, his portfolio in the Political Section at U.S. Embassy Baghdad included support to the constitution development process, the 2005 elections, and Kurdish Affairs (Kurdistan Region, Kirkuk, and the disputed territories). He returned to Iraq in 2007 to support “Surge” operations, and again in 2013 for consecutive postings to support Counter-ISIS operations and programs for Iraqi civil society.
His USCG career spanned numerous shipboard and landside domestic assignments in Hawaii, California, Louisiana, Virginia, and Washington DC. Internationally, he served as the USCG Liaison Officer at US Embassy Lima, Peru.
Of note, he also served in a special assignment for the Office of the Vice President as Director of Operations that coordinated major interagency counterdrug activities throughout the entire Pacific Region.
His current focus areas include Iraqi politics, NATO strategy revisions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European energy security, Black Sea regional security, and Crisis Management.