Charles Mark Lichenstein (September 20, 1926 – August 22, 2002) was the American alternate representative for special political affairs to the United Nations, the second-highest ranking American diplomat at the United Nations, from 1981 to 1984. Lichenstein is best remembered for controversial comments that he made welcoming the possibility of relocating the United Nations headquarters outside of the United States.

Lichenstein was born on 1926 in Albany, New York.

He graduated from Yale University with undergraduate and graduate degrees, and later taught pollical science at Yale. He also was a faculty member at Notre Dame and Albertus Magnus Colleges.

In the 1960s, Lichenstein worked in the presidential campaigns of Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater. In 1962, he was head of research at the Republican National Committee.

Lichenstein was the primary ghostwriter for Richard Nixon's book Six Crises, published in 1962. Lichenstein was staff assistant to Robert Finch during the Nixon administration, and an assistant to Dean Burch during the Ford administration.

From 1975 to 1979, Lichenstein was senior vice president of PBS.

In 1981, Lichenstein was appointed by Ronald Reagan as the American alternate representative for special political affairs to the United Nations, serving as a deputy to America's chief U.N Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick.

After the Soviet Union shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 on September 1, 1983, New York and New Jersey both denied Soviet aircraft permission to land at airports in either state in violation of the United Nations Charter, which requires the United Nations' host nation to allow all member countries access to the U.N. Lichenstein responded, saying,