Julianne Smith | |
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25th United States Ambassador to NATO | |
In office December 6, 2021 –October 23, 2024 [1] | |
President | Joe Biden |
Preceded by | Kay Bailey Hutchison |
Succeeded by | Matthew Whitaker |
Personal details | |
Born | 1970 (age 54–55) |
Children | 2 |
Education | Xavier University (BA) American University (MA) |
Julianne Smith is an American foreign policy advisor and former diplomat who served as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO in the Biden administration from 2021 until 2024. [2] She previously served as deputy national security advisor to then-Vice President Biden in the Obama administration.
Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in communications and French from Xavier University and a Master of Arts in international relations from American University. She also studied French at the University of Paris,Sorbonne for a year and German at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich for one year. [3]
From 2000 to 2003,Smith worked as a program officer at the German Marshall Fund. She then joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies as a senior fellow, [4] where among other accomplishments in November 2006 she edited Transforming NATO (...again) - A Primer for the NATO Summit in Riga 2006, [5] and in 2008 she published The NATO-Russia Relationship:Defining Moment or DéjàVu?. [6]
From 2009 to 2012,she served as the director of European and NATO policy at the United States Department of Defense,where she co-wrote the 2010 NATO Strategic Concept document, [7] under Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
From April 2012 to June 2013,she served as deputy national security advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden. [8]
From 2014 to 2018,she worked at the Center for a New American Security. She was also a fellow at the Robert Bosch Stiftung for one year. A senior advisor post at WestExec Advisors followed the consultancy's formation in 2017.
Smith co-founded the Leadership Council for Women in National Security, [9] [10] which officially launched on 25 June 2019. [11]
She worked as an advisor to a German consultancy called Berlin Global Advisors and worked at the American Academy in Berlin, [12] [13] while she penned such essays in foreign policy magazines as "NATO in the Age of Trump". [14]
A 2021 investigation in The American Prospect found that Smith,"who listed Boeing and SoftBank as clients,earned $34,000 as a WestExec consultant while holding down a full-time role at the think tank German Marshall Fund." [15]
In January 2021,Smith became a senior advisor to the United States secretary of state. [16]
On June 15,2021,President Joe Biden nominated Smith to serve as the United States permanent representative to NATO. [16] On September 15,2021,a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. On October 19,2021,her nomination was reported favorably out of committee. [17] Her nomination was confirmed by United States Senate on November 18,2021 by voice vote. [18]
Smith has written op-ed columns for The New York Times , Lawfare , Washington Monthly , Foreign Affairs ,and The National Interest . [19] She has also appeared on NPR programs,including 1A , All Things Considered ,and Morning Edition . [20] [21] [22]
Smith speaks German and French. [16] She and her husband have two sons. [23]