In 2007, Abizaid retired after 34 years of service.[1] As of 2007, Abizaid is employed as a fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.[2] He assumed the Distinguished Chair of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point in December 2007. Abizaid was appointed to the board of directors of RPM International on 24 January 2008, and also sits on the board of directors of the Defense Ventures Group.[3] In 2008, he was selected as a Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College.[4]
On 13 November 2018, he was nominated as the United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.[5] He was confirmed by the United States Senate as ambassador on 10 April 2019, and sworn in on 30 April 2019.[6] Abizaid formally presented his credentials to King Salman on 16 June 2019.[7] He resigned on 20 January 2021.[8] He now serves as senior advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group.[9]