Reece Smyth, representing the US Department of State, is a National Security Affairs Fellow (NSAF) for the academic year 2019–20 at the Hoover Institution.
In this interview, Smyth discusses his two-decade career as a foreign service officer, embarking on diverse diplomatic assignments in the Republic of Macedonia, at the economic desk for the Arabian Peninsula at the US Department of State in Washington, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels, at the United Nations in New York, and as chargé d'affaires to the Republic of Ireland, the second-highest-rank of US diplomat in Dublin after ambassador. Following his Hoover fellowship, Smyth will become director of the US Department of State’s Office of Science and Technology Cooperation.
Smyth also reflects on the significance of America’s economic and security relationships with Ireland, and his research focus at the Hoover Institution about how technology, specifically artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, is defining power rivalries across the world.
Why did you join the US Foreign Service?
I was born in Dayton, Ohio, and moved to Houston, Texas, just before high school. I received my BA from Baylor University and a masters from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, in Belgium, where I studied European integration. After my studies, I started work in the private sector for Arthur Andersen and later became a trade consultant.
My consulting work included putting together trade deals in the oil industry, helping large companies earn millions of dollars. I did this for three years and felt that I could apply these skills and knowledge to serving my country on much bigger issues as a US Foreign Service officer. It was very exciting. At the beginning, I didn’t know if public service was for me, because I always thought of myself as more of a private-sector person.
What languages do you speak?
I speak French, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, and some Arabic.
What has been the nature of your assignments through the course of your Foreign Service career?
I was initially commissioned as a political officer in the US Foreign Service. However, the scope of my assignments has split between economic and political issues, although the two are not mutually exclusive.
Many American embassies throughout the world contain economic and political sections. As chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy in Dublin, Ireland, I oversaw both sections. Before my assignment in Ireland, I oversaw an integrated political and economic department at the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
My first assignment was as a consular officer in the Republic of Macedonia. This was right after the conflict in nearby Kosovo, where I had to travel and provide consul services a few times per month.
It was an interesting time. The United States and the European Union also intervened diplomatically in Macedonia and prevented a small conflict between Slavs and ethnic Albanians from expanding to a full-scale war.
Following my service in Macedonia, I returned to Washington, DC, and worked in the State Department’s Operations Center, detailing Secretary Colin Powell. I then transferred to the economic desk for the Arabian Peninsula, also located at State Department headquarters. From there, I went to NATO in Brussels and monitored Russia from 2006 through 2009. This was at the time of Russia’s incursions into Georgia.
Did the economic desk of the Arabian Peninsula bring you into work familiar to you from the private sector?
Yes. The economic desk of the Arabian Peninsula dealt with three primary issues: one, acquiring less expensive oil and gas; two, curbing terrorist financing; and three, facilitating large trade negotiations.
As a precondition to trade negotiations, the United States required the Saudi government to stop financing terrorist groups. This was at the time when Saudi Arabia wanted to join the World Trade Organization and the US was negotiating a free-trade agreement among Oman, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.
How did your educational experience at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs help your career and intellectual growth in the Foreign Service?
It was an incredible experience.
At the Wilson School, many of my professors were former and future ambassadors and high-level national security professionals. They served as invaluable mentors to me.
Throughout your career in business, government, and academia, what particular policy issue has interested you most?
That is a good question. During my tenure as chargé d’affaires in Ireland, the ambassador designate had not yet been confirmed by the US Senate. Without a confirmed ambassador, I was running the mission in Dublin for two and half years and had a very broad portfolio.
My favorite part of the job was helping US industry grow and prosper abroad. Ireland has become a platform for American businesses to invest in the rest of Europe, and there is much US diplomats can do to open doors and foster a favorable economic environment with their European counterparts.
There are a lot of reasons for Americans to do business in Ireland. I call these reasons the three E’s: English, euros, and the European Union.
After Brexit, Ireland remains the only English-speaking country on the euro currency and politically integrated within the European Union. Their low corporate tax rates and highly educated work force also make for an attractive environment for US businesses. There are a lot of reasons to do business there.
There have been significant growth opportunities for American businesses in Ireland’s technological sector. Ireland is the home of the European headquarters of Facebook, Amazon, and many other tech firms.
Ireland’s large tech presence means its facilities store vast amounts of user data, which has consequently exposed them to greater risks for cyberattacks from state and nonstate actors. Thus, the United States and Ireland have enhanced their cyber security ties.
Ireland was hit very hard by the 2008–9 global financial crisis. Tell us about their road to recovery.
The economic crisis was severe. Ireland’s economy almost completely collapsed. The Irish finally dug themselves out of recession. Along with good government policies, continued American investment was pivotal to their recovery.
When I was in Dublin, one of the policies we focused on was increasing investment in the United States. We opened an office in the embassy to aid businesses with that objective and it became very successful.
We played a significant part in helping the Irish conduct billions of dollars’ worth of business in the United States. Interestingly enough, the US-Ireland economic relationship is much like the situation in Silicon Valley, where people come out of Google or another big firm and then form a startup. People working for American tech or pharmaceutical firms would eventually use the financial and intellectual capital they built to form their own companies, subsequently investing in the US market. The relationship benefited both sides of the Atlantic!
What are the biggest challenges of being a US diplomat?
Moving. I have a new assignment and essentially need to start over in a new job every two to three years, sometimes even every year. There can be quite hard on family life.
There are also certain places where it is quite dangerous. For the past five years, I had a security detail with me everywhere I traveled. It can get a little bit onerous riding around in armored cars and having to worry about my life and personal safety.
The security environment also makes it harder for diplomats to do business. A person could walk up and touch the US Embassy in Dublin ten years ago. Today, a big fence surrounds it. New embassies typically are built outside of city centers with big setbacks.
What are the biggest challenges in terms of protecting, advancing, and communicating US interests?
US diplomats are always competing against the 24-hour news cycle and a world that’s changing rapidly because of technological innovations and the rise of new great power rivalries. These are challenges that prompt us to constantly find new ways to adapt to the international environment, and communicate America’s policies to allies and adversaries.
What does leadership mean to you?
Leadership means creating a strategic vision, promoting a team concept, and taking care of people. Great leaders allow high performers to fly and help low performers get up to better.
Tell us about your research focus and what you hope to accomplish during your time at the Hoover Institution.
I am taking the opportunity to audit classes and attend sessions at Hoover, the Freeman Spogli Institute, the Center for International Security and Cooperation, and other parts of the Stanford campus.
My research explores the great power rivalries in technology, particularly cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. I am trying to prepare for my next job as the State Department’s director for the Office of Science and Technology Cooperation. Hoover is thus the perfect place for me to focus on great power rivalries, and then take advantage of Stanford unparalleled resources in the areas of science and technology. I am lucky to have this opportunity.
Is there a particular colleague at Hoover who has greatly influenced you or made you think differently?
George Shultz. He is the heart and soul of Hoover. The sessions he has organized with senior fellows, such as the recent roundtable with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have been incredibly valuable to my study and thinking about US diplomacy.
What do you do for fun?
My work at Hoover and camaraderie with the other National Security Affairs Fellows keeps me very busy. In my spare time, I like to read, hike, and play tennis and a little golf every now and then.
