Building Strategic Power through Exchanges

Author and researcher involved in a broad exploration of the multiple forms of diplomacy in international history, including the ‘Transnational Transatlantic’ – tracking and explaining the governmental and non-governmental linkages that have bound North America and Europe through the 20th century. Scott-Smith holds the Roosevelt Chair in New Diplomatic History at Leiden University, The Netherlands, and is the academic director of the Roosevelt Institute for American Studies in Middelburg, The Netherlands. In 2017 he became the founding editor of the new journal  Diplomatica: A Journal of Diplomacy and Society  together with Ken Weisbrode. 

Vice Provost for Global Affairs and Chief Global Officer at the University of North Carolina and former U.S. Ambassador to Panama and deputy ambassador in London. As a former policy maker with broad public diplomacy experience, she still remembers working in the Netherlands with mayors of cities who had vivid memories of American troops saving the Dutch in WWII. The U.S. soft power ensured that the default answer to every request from the U.S. Embassy was “yes, let me see how I can get to yes on that.” She successfully used the IVLP to keep those relationships fresh and soft power to continue building long term relationships but also solve short-term, front-burner foreign policy challenges, like honoring extradition treaties. Ambassador Stephenson understands the role that exchanges play in advancing foreign policy objectives and the role they play in building critical relationships.

Colonel Chris A. Wade (United States Army) is the U.S. Cyber Command Liaison Officer to USNORTHCOM and Director of the Cyberspace Operations Integrated Planning Element supporting North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and USNORTHCOM at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  He leads a team of subject matter experts working to integrate cyberspace capabilities into the operations of the military command.

A cyber specialist, COL Wade’s military career spans three decades.  He served in infantry and artillery positions in the United States and Korea, and served in three combat rotations: Fallujah, Iraq (2003) as a Field Artillery Battery Commander, in Mosul, Iraq (2008) as an Information Operations Officer, and in Baghdad, Iraq (2011) as a Cyber Operations Planner.  In 2015, COL Wade transferred to Cyber Operations; recent leadership positions include the Director of the Office of the Chief of Cyber (Fort Gordon, GA) and Director of Task Force Cyber Strong (The Pentagon).

COL Wade is a graduate of Georgetown College (BA), the Naval Postgraduate School (MS), and the U.S. Army War College (MSS).  His awards include the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Combat Action Badge, and the Senior Parachutist Badge.

Passion for international affairs and public service led him to the School of Communications at Howard University. While at Howard, Erick volunteered in the International Affairs Center, helped found the United Nations Association, and presented research as a member of the Annenberg Honors Program. In 2018, he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Communications. After graduation, Erick worked as a program assistant for the Young African Leadership Initiative, then traveled to France to teach English and American History through the Teaching Assistant Program In France (TAPIF). He later worked as a virtual intern for the Department of State and as a policy fellow for the U.S. Helsinki Commission, where he focused on human rights issues. Erick is a 2020 recipient of the Thomas R. Pickering fellowship and is pursuing a Master’s Degree at Harvard Kennedy School before starting his career as a diplomat.