Celeste A. Wallander

Last updated
Celeste A. Wallander
Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary of Defense.jpg
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
Assumed office
February 22, 2022

Celeste Ann Wallander (born 1961) is an American international relations advisor who currently serves as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs at the United States Department of Defense. [1] [2]

Contents

Education

Wallander received her BA summa cum laude in political science from Northwestern University in 1983. She received her MA (1985), MPhil (1986) and PhD (1990) degrees in political science from Yale University. [3]

Career

Wallander was previously a professor of government at Harvard University (1989–2000), senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (2000–2001), director and senior fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (2001–2006), and visiting professor at Georgetown University (2006–2008). Wallander founded the Program on New Approaches to Russian Security and the Eurasian Strategy Project.

Wallander was special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia and Eurasia on the National Security Council from 2013 to 2017. Earlier in the Obama administration she had served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from May 2009 to July 2012. [4] Wallander was an adviser to Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign. [5]

Biden administration

On June 22, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Wallander to be assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. [6] Hearings were held before the Senate Armed Services Committee on January 13, 2022. The committee favorably reported her nomination to the Senate floor on February 1, 2022. Wallander was confirmed by the entire Senate by a vote of 83–13 on February 16, 2022. [7]

Publications

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michèle Flournoy</span> American defense policy advisor

Michèle Angélique Flournoy is an American defense policy advisor and former government official. She was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy under President Bill Clinton and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy under President Barack Obama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ash Carter</span> American government official (1954–2022)

Ashton Baldwin Carter was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. Nicholas Burns</span> American diplomat and academic (born 1956)

Robert Nicholas Burns is an American diplomat and academic who has served as the United States ambassador to China since 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurt M. Campbell</span> American diplomat and businessman (born 1957)

Kurt Michael Campbell is an American diplomat and businessman serving as the United States deputy secretary of state since 2024. He previously served as National Security Council coordinator for the Indo-Pacific from 2021 to 2024. In this capacity, Campbell had been referred to as the Biden administration's "Asia coordinator" or "Asia czar"—chief architect of Joe Biden's Asia strategy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael B. Donley</span> American government official (born 1952)

Michael Bruce Donley is a United States government official who is the director of administration and management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense since May 2021, having served in the same position from 2005 to 2008. In the Bush and Obama administrations, Donley served as the 22nd secretary of the Air Force, amongst other positions. Donley has 30 years of experience in the national security community, including service on the staff of the United States Senate, White House and The Pentagon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antony Blinken</span> U.S. Secretary of State since 2021

Antony John Blinken is an American lawyer and diplomat currently serving as the 71st United States secretary of state. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. Blinken was previously national security advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Sullivan</span> US national security advisor (born 1976)

Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan is an American attorney who currently serves as the United States National Security Advisor, reporting directly to President Joe Biden. He previously served as Director of Policy to President Barack Obama, National Security Advisor to then Vice President Biden and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary Hillary Clinton at the U.S. Department of State. Sullivan also served as senior advisor to the U.S. federal government at the Iran nuclear negotiations and senior policy advisor to Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, as well as visiting professor at Yale Law School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Chollet</span> American government official and foreign policy advisor

Derek Chollet is an American foreign policy advisor and author currently serving as the counselor of the United States Department of State. Previously, Chollet was the executive vice president for security and defense policy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. From 2012 to 2015, Chollet was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, where he managed U.S. defense policy involving Europe, NATO, the Middle East, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere for Secretaries of Defense Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall</span> American government official (born 1959)

Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall is an American national security and energy leader, public servant, educator, and author currently serving as the 11th United States Homeland Security Advisor to President Joe Biden since 2021. She previously served in the Clinton and Obama Administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C.S. Eliot Kang</span> American diplomat (born 1962)

C.S. Eliot Kang is an American diplomat and member of the Senior Executive Service. He currently serves as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) at the U.S. Department of State. From January to July 2021 and January 2017 to January 2018, Kang served as acting ISN Assistant Secretary and also exercised the authority of the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. He also served as acting ISN Assistant Secretary from January to June 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Kahl</span> American government official and academic (born 1971)

Colin Hackett Kahl is an American political scientist who served as under secretary of defense for policy in the Biden administration from April 28, 2021, to July 17, 2023. Previously, he served as national security advisor to the vice president under then-Vice President Joe Biden (2014–2017). After the Obama administration, Kahl served as a Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at Stanford University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Hicks</span> American government official (born 1970)

Kathleen Anne Holland Hicks is an American government official who has served as the United States deputy secretary of defense since 2021. She is the first Senate-confirmed woman in this role and is the highest ranking woman currently serving in the United States Department of Defense. Hicks previously served as the principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy during the Obama administration. By 2020 Hicks was an academic and national security advisor working as a senior vice president and director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ely Ratner</span> American government official (born 1977)

Ely Stefansky Ratner is an American political scientist currently serving as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs in the Biden administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meredith Berger</span> American government official

Meredith Ashley Berger is an American government official who is serving as the United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations, and Environment; a position she has held since August 5, 2021. From August 25, 2021, until April 13, 2022, she concurrently served as the designated official performing the duties of the United States Under Secretary of the Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julianne Smith</span> American foreign policy advisor and diplomat

Julianne Smith is an American foreign policy advisor and diplomat who serves as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO in the Biden administration. She previously served as deputy national security advisor to then-Vice President Biden in the Obama administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mara Karlin</span> American foreign policy and defense advisor

Mara Elizabeth Karlin is an American foreign policy and defense advisor. In April 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Karlin to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by voice vote on August 9, 2021. Previously, she served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. In her role, she served as the main advisor to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on U.S. security policies related to every country in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Eurasia, and the Western Hemisphere. Her portfolio included shaping U.S. defense policy related to NATO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael R. Carpenter</span> American diplomat

Michael R. Carpenter is an American diplomat currently serving as United States ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the Biden administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Dalton</span> American foreign policy and defense advisor

Melissa Griffin Dalton is an American defense official who is serving as the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs in the Biden administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sasha Baker</span> American political adviser

Alexandra Nicole Baker, known as Sasha Baker, is an American policy advisor who currently serves as deputy under secretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura D. Taylor-Kale</span> American policy executive (born 1977)

Laura D. Taylor-Kale is an American foreign policy and economic advisor. She is the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy.

References

Sources