Eric S. Edelman the Roger Hertog Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins, Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, and a senior associate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. Before retiring from the U.S. Foreign Service in May 2009, he held senior positions at the Departments of State and Defense as well as the White House, including U.S. Ambassador to Finland and Turkey, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State George Shultz, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State and Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. He also served as a member of the U.S. Middle East Delegation to the West Bank/Gaza Autonomy Talks. Among his awards are the Presidential Distinguished Service Award and the Légion d’Honneur conferred by the French government.