Senior Associate, New European Democracies Project
Programs: New European Democracies Project
Regions: Europe
Keith Smith is currently a senior associate in the CSIS New European Democracies Project. He retired from the U.S. Department of State in 2000, where his career focused primarily on European affairs. From 1997 to 2000, he was U.S. ambassador to Lithuania, with additional posts in Europe, including Hungary (twice), Norway, and Estonia.
In addition to several other State Department assignments, he most recently served as director of policy for Europe and senior adviser to the deputy secretary of state for support of East European Democracies (SEED Program).
From 2000 to the present, Smith has been a consultant to several energy companies and has lectured on Russian-European energy issues in the United States, Poland, Belgium, Norway, United Kingdom, Germany, Czech Republic, Estonia, and Lithuania. He has been interviewed by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Economist, Financial Times, and several European papers.
His articles have been published by the International Herald Tribune, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Center for European Policy Studies, and Norwegian Atlantic Committee. He has appeared on BBC World, CNN, and CSNBC. His most recent CSIS publications include “Russian Energy Pressure Fails to Unite Europe,” CSIS Euro-Focus (January 2007); “Current Implications of Russian Energy Policies,” CSIS Issue Brief (January 2006); and Russian Energy Politics in the Baltics, Poland, and Ukraine (CSIS Press, 2004).