Theodore E. Russell

Theodore Russell is an adjunct fellow in the CSIS New European Democracies Project. Since retiring from the U.S. Foreign Service, he has served as a subject matter expert in international security affairs to several U.S. defense contractors for training exercises primarily involving the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. For several years, he was also associated with an independent public television network as international relations director. He has lectured on U.S. foreign policy toward Central Europe and contributed to CSIS studies on NATO enlargement and on Slovakia’s security and foreign policy strategy. He is the founding chairman of Friends of Slovakia, a nonprofit organization promoting U.S.-Slovak ties of friendship and cooperation.

Prior to his retirement from the State Department with the rank of minister counselor, Ambassador Russell served from 1996 to 1999 as deputy commandant for international affairs at the U.S. Army War College. From 1993 to 1996, he served as the first U.S. ambassador to the Slovak Republic. Earlier assignments included deputy assistant administrator for international activities on detail to the Environmental Protection Agency, deputy chief of mission in Prague and in Copenhagen, and deputy director for European regional political and economic affairs. A member of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Russell graduated with a B.A. degree in history from Yale University, received M.A. and M.A.L.D. degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and attended the National War College.