Robin Lynn Raphel (born 1947) is an American former diplomat, ambassador, CIA analyst, lobbyist, and an expert on Pakistan affairs. In 1993, she was appointed by President Bill Clinton as the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. She later served as U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia from November 7, 1997 to August 6, 2000, during Clinton's second term in office. In the 2000s, Raphel held a number of South Asia-related diplomatic positions. She retired from the State Department in 2005 after 30 years of service. After retirement, Raphel was hired to head the global affairs and trade group of Cassidy & Associates, a DC lobbying firm. She returned to the State Department in 2009 as a senior adviser on Pakistan under Richard Holbrooke, during the tenure of then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Until November 2, 2014, she served as coordinator for non-military assistance to Pakistan. Raphel was the subject of a federal counterintelligence investigation. Surveillance of her communications began in February, 2013 and became public knowledge in October, 2014. She was suspected of being a Pakistani asset. After abandoning the claim that she had been spying, the FBI urged Raphel to plead guilty to mishandling classified documents. Raphel refused the plea deal, and in March 2016, the Justice Department declined to file charges against her. Early life and education Robin Lynn Johnson was born in Vancouver, Washington in 1947 to Vera and Donald Johnson, a manager of an aluminum plant. She has two sisters, Karen Freeze and Deborah Johnson. She graduated from high school in Longview, Washington in 1965. She received a B.A. in history and economics from the University of Washington in 1969. During her undergraduate years she studied history at the University of London, and would later return to England after graduation to study for a year at Cambridge University. In 1970, she took a position as a teacher at Damavand College, an Iranian women's college in Tehran, where she taught history for two years. She earned her master's degree in economics from the University of Maryland. Career Early diplomatic career Robin Raphel began her career in the U.S. government as an analyst at the CIA after graduating with her master's degree. After leaving Iran she joined the diplomatic corps and assisted USAID in Islamabad as an economics analyst. In 1978, Raphel returned to the United States and joined the State Department. She would