Wess Mitchell Named Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center

Cambridge, MA – Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has named former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Dr. A. Wess Mitchell a non-resident Fellow with the Applied History Project. Dr. Mitchell, who served from 2017-2019 as America’s top diplomat for Europe, is the Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of the Center for European Policy Analysis and a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Institute for Peace. At the Belfer Center, Mitchell will share the lessons of history for U.S. grand strategy with faculty, staff, fellows, and students.

“Wess has demonstrated that he can stand on two legs: Applied History with his book on the Habsburgs and public service as Assistant Secretary. We are proud to have him,” said Douglas Dillon Professor of Government Graham Allison, who directs the Applied History Project with Niall Ferguson.

The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Mitchell to lead one of the U.S. Department of State’s largest bureaus, with 79 diplomatic posts and more than 10,000 employees. As Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, he developed U.S. policy toward the 50 countries of Europe and Eurasia, NATO, the EU, and OSCE; led the Interagency in building instruments to counter Russian malign influence in Europe; and spearheaded diplomatic initiatives for Central and Eastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, Caucasus, and Western Balkans, where he played a role in the resolution of the Greece-North Macedonia name dispute.

Recognized as an expert diplomat skilled at illuminating current choices and challenges by analyzing the historical record, Mitchell is the author of three books: The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire (Princeton University Press, 2018), The Unquiet Frontier: Rising Rivals, Vulnerable Allies and the Crisis of American Power (Princeton University Press, 2016, co-authored with Jakub J. Grygiel), and The Godfather Doctrine: A Foreign Policy Parable (Princeton University Press, 2009, co-authored with John C. Hulsman). In 2005, he co-founded the Center for European Policy Analysis, a policy institute dedicated to the study of Central and Eastern Europe.

Mitchell earned a doctorate in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin’s Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science. He also holds a Master of Arts in German and European Studies from Georgetown University, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Texas Tech University. At the Applied History Project, Mitchell will examine options for U.S. grand strategy by producing a study of how great powers in history have dealt with the problem of competition with more than one rival simultaneously. He resides in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife Elizabeth and their two children.

Contact: Josh Burek, Director of Global Communications & Strategy, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs: josh_burek@hks.harvard.edu | 617-495-7831