Robert Finn
United States Ambassador to Afghanistan
In office March 21, 2002 – August 1, 2004
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Ryan Crocker (acting)
Succeeded by	Zalmay Khalilzad
United States Ambassador to Tajikistan
In office November 11, 1998 – July 13, 2001
President	Bill Clinton George W. Bush
Preceded by	R. Grant Smith
Succeeded by	Franklin Huddle
United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan Acting
In office March 16, 1992 – September 15, 1992
President	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Diplomatic relations established
Succeeded by	Richard Miles
Personal details
Born	(1945-12-19) December 19, 1945 (age 78)
Alma mater	St. John's University New York University Princeton University

Robert Patrick John Finn (born December 19, 1945) is an American scholar of Turkish Studies and International Relations, and was the first United States ambassador to Afghanistan in more than 20 years, from March 22, 2002, until August 1, 2004.^[1] He was succeeded by Zalmay Khalilzad.

Life

Finn grew up in the Parkchester planned community in the Bronx, in New York City^[2] and earned a B.A. in American Literature and European History with honors from St. John's University, an M.A. in Near Eastern Studies from New York University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University in 1978. Finn's doctoral dissertation was titled "The early Turkish novel: 1872-1900."^[3] He currently holds a professorship there in Turkic studies and international relations. He speaks fifteen languages, including most Central Asian tongues.

Finn was a member of the Foreign Service from 1978 to August 2005. In 1992, he opened (as chargé d'affaires) the United States embassy to Azerbaijan and served as charge and deputy chief of mission there for three years. He also served as the U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan from 1998 through 2001. He has also served in Turkey, Croatia and Pakistan.

Works

• The Early Turkish Novel, 1872-1900 (Isis Press, 1984)

Translations

• Nazli Eray (2006). Orpheus. University of Texas at Austin. ISBN 9780292714090.
• Orhan Pamuk (2012). Silent House. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9780307958556. Robert Finn silent.

Editor

• (with Wolfgang F. Danspeckgruber) of Building State and Security in Afghanistan (Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, 2007); Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, 2007, ISBN 9780977354443