John Rodney Bass II[1] (born 1964) is an American diplomat, who served as the under secretary of state for management from 2021 to 2025.

[2] He graduated from Syracuse University in 1986 and was a newspaper editor and political campaign consultant before joining the Foreign Service in 1988.

[4] In 1998, he worked for deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott, first as a special assistant for Europe and Eurasia including as part of the peace negotiations in the Kosovo War.

The cancellation of visitor visas came after a Turkish court ordered the arrest of an employee of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul.

[12] Bass was appointed as acting Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs in March 2024, following the resignation of Victoria Nuland.