Biden gets a new national security advisor
Today, Vice President Joe Biden delivered a speech defending the Obama administration’s foreign policy and attacking the foreign policy views of Mitt Romney in New York. Back in Washington, Biden took on a new top staffer to advise him on national security and foreign policy going forward. As part of a set of ongoing staffing ...
Today, Vice President Joe Biden delivered a speech defending the Obama administration’s foreign policy and attacking the foreign policy views of Mitt Romney in New York. Back in Washington, Biden took on a new top staffer to advise him on national security and foreign policy going forward.
As part of a set of ongoing staffing changes in the national security leadership at the White House, Biden will get a new deputy national security advisor Monday, Pentagon official Julianne Smith. Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Miller announced Smith’s move in a Thursday note to staff, obtained by The Cable.
"I am writing to announce that Julie Smith, who has served brilliantly as principal director for Europe and NATO policy for the last three years, has been selected as deputy national security adviser to the vice president. Julie will start in her new position on Monday April 30," Miller wrote. "We will greatly miss Julie in OSD Policy, but very much look forward to continuing to work closely with her in her new role."
Smith replaces Brian McKeon, who moved over in March to become deputy assistant to the president, executive secretary, and chief of staff of the National Security Staff (NSS). McKeon replaced two senior staffers. The position of executive secretary had been held by Nate Tibbits, and the position of chief of staff had been held by Ambassador Brooke Anderson, who left government and moved to Bozeman, Montana, according to a White House press release last month.
The jobs of NSS executive secretary and chief of staff were merged into one position for McKeon, "creating a more integrated approach to the management of the NSS," the White House said.
Smith had been serving as the Pentagon policy shop’s principal director for Europe and NATO policy for the last three years. Part of that job will be immediately filled by Evelyn Farkas, who will take over Smith’s role as special assistant to the Secretary of Defense for the NATO Summit next month in Chicago. Farkas has served for the past two years as senior advisor to EUCOM Commander and Supreme Allied Commander Europe Adm. Jim Stavridis.
The Pentagon’s regional director for Europe and NATO Chris Skaluba will be taking over Smith’s duties as principal director of the Europe/NATO office on an acting basis, while the Pentagon looks for someone to fill that position permanently, Miller wrote. Col. Sean Scott will fill in for Skaluba as acting director of the Europe/NATO regional directorate.
According to Politico‘s Playbook, Smith previously worked as director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Europe Program and also has worked at the German Marshall Fund, the British American Security Information Council, and the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik in Germany.
"Please join me in wishing Julie and Evelyn, and Chris and Sean, all the best in their new roles. I am confident that they will all continue do great work in support of our national security," Miller wrote.
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
More from Foreign Policy
Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?
The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.
Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World
It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.
It’s a New Great Game. Again.
Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.
Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing
The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.
Sign up for Morning Brief
Foreign Policy’s flagship daily newsletter with what’s coming up around the world today. Delivered weekdays.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.
