Ambassador Smith was previously a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). 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, Norway and Estonia. In addition to several other State Department assignments, he most recently served as Director of Policy for Europe and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of State regarding U.S.assistance programs in Eastern Europe.
Since 2000, 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, CzechRepublic, Estonia and Lithuania. He is the author of numerous articles on international energy issues that have appeared in over 30 newspapers around the world, including the Financial Times and International Herald Tribune.
Smith’s most recent publications include “Unconventional Gas and European Security:Politics and Foreign Policy of Fracking in Europe,” “Managing the Challenge of Russian Energy Policies,” and “Lack of Transparency in Russian Energy Trade.”