Daniel B. Smith was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State on February 14, 2014.
A member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Career Minister, Ambassador Smith served most recently as Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic from 2010 to 2013. Prior to that assignment, he served as Executive Secretary of the State Department. He has held other senior positions in the Department, including Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs and Deputy Executive Secretary. In addition to Greece, his overseas service includes tours in Bern, Istanbul, Ottawa and Stockholm. He also taught Political Science at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Ambassador Smith is a recipient of the Arnold L. Raphel Memorial Award, the Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award, a Presidential Distinguished Service Award, and several Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards. Ambassador Smith received his Ph.D. and M.A. from Stanford University, and his B.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His foreign languages are German, Turkish and Swedish.
Julian Lindley-French, Senior Fellow, Institute of Statecraft; Director, Europa Analytica
Professor Dr Julian Lindley-French is a leading strategic analyst, author, advisor and commentator who has been appointed to three professorial chairs, has eight books to his name and has written many major articles and reports.
Lindley-French is currently Senior Fellow at the Institute of Statecraft in London, Director of Europa Analytica in the Netherlands, Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow at the National Defense University in Washington, as well as a Fellow of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute. He is Visiting Programme Director at Wilton Park and Honorary Fellow of the Strategy and Security Institute at the University of Exeter. Professor Lindley-French also serves as a Member of the Strategic Advisory Panel of the UK Chief of Defence Staff, and is an advisor to NATO.
His blog, Lindley-French’s Blog Blast (www.lindleyfrench.blogspot.com), has a world-wide readership. The Oxford Handbook of War (Oxford University Press) is regarded as a definitive compendium on the subject the paperback version of which was published in March 2014. This followed on from his 2008 book for Oxford “A Chronology of European Security and Defence”. In February 2015 he published a second print edition of “Little Britain? Twenty-First Century Strategic Challenges for a Middling European Power”, which considers the strategy and policy options faced by Britain and its armed forces in the early twenty-first century. In July 2015 he will publish a new book on the history, strategy and purpose of NATO for Routledge.
Marko Savkovic, Program Coordinator, Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence
Marko Savkovic works as Program Coordinator at the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence (BFPE), where he is primarily tasked with directing the program of the Belgrade Security Forum (www.belgradeforum.org). Previously, also at BFPE, he was in charge of the Regional Academy for Democracy (www.radwb.eu), an initiative aimed at building the next generation of political leadership in the Western Balkans. Previously, Marko worked as a researcher in the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), specializing in the fields of defense reform, civil-military relations and Euro-Atlantic integration. While working in BCSP, he co-authored the first “Dictionary of European Security” published in BHS languages, followed by a pioneering study in peacekeeping practices of Western Balkans’ countries. As of 2014, he is a PhD candidate at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Science, researching into what he sees as “privatization” of peace-building efforts worldwide. His work and thoughts have been published extensively in academic journals (Journal of Regional Security, Analytical, Vojno delo) as well as various magazines and portals (Novi magazin, European Voice, Pescanik.net). Contact him at msavkovic@bfpe.org.
Panos Tsakloglou, Professor, Athens University of Economics and Business
Dr. Panos Tasakloglou is a Professor at Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece. His research focuses on questions of inequality, poverty, social exclusion, returns to education, and social policy (especially the redistributive role of the state). He has published over eighty five articles in scholarly journals and contributions to collective volumes, participated in a large number of conferences and workshops, and has been a partner in over forty five international and national research and consultancy projects. He is Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA, Bonn) and Senior Research Fellow of the Hellenic Observatory (LSE, London), as well as member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Economic Inequality and Politica Economica. During the period 2012-2014, he was Chairman of the Greek Government’s Council of Economic Advisers and member of the EU Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) and Eurogroup Working Group (EWG), as well as alternate member of Ecofin and Eurogroup. He has also been Social Policy advisor to Prime Ministers G. Papandreou (2010-2011) and L. Papademos (2011-2012) and was a member of the EU Economic Policy Committee (EPC, 2010-2011). Further, he was member of the Greek Government’s Council of Advisors on Employment and Social Policy (2001-2002), National Council for Research and Technology (2001-2005), Council of Economic Advisors (2002-2004 and 2009-2012), and member of the Independent Authority for the Evaluation of Tertiary Education (2006-2009).
Peter Sparding, Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund
Peter Sparding is a transatlantic fellow in GMF’s Europe Program in Washington, DC, where he works on issues related to the transatlantic and global economy. In particular, Sparding’s work focuses on the consequences of the Eurozone crisis on the transatlantic economic relationship and the global economy. He also works on issues related to transatlantic trade and global economic governance. A native of Germany, Sparding previously worked in GMF’s Berlin office. He holds a master’s degree from Free University in Berlin and has also studied at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
– See more at: http://www.gmfus.org/profiles/peter-sparding#sthash.k16MR2Hx.dpuf
Sponsored by the Kozmetsky Center and World Affairs Council of Austin
