Andrew J. Shapiro

Andrew J. Shapiro

Andrew J. Shapiro is a former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs.

Shapiro is currently a Managing Director at Beacon Global Strategies LLC, which he founded with partners Jeremy Bash and Philippe Reines in 2013.^[1][2]

Biography

From 2009 to 2013, Mr. Shapiro served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, during which time he revitalized and deepened political-military partnerships at home and abroad, and promoted record-setting foreign military sales, creating thousands of jobs in the United States while contributing to the security of key U.S. partners. As the longest serving Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Mr. Shapiro managed U.S. security relationships with partners in the Middle East, identifying opportunities for improved relations with some partners while reducing risks when they arose. He deepened U.S. political-military talks with India and Brazil and made key contributions to the U.S. pivot to Asia by leading an increase in military sales and transfers to U.S. partners including Taiwan, Japan, and Indonesia.

While leading the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Mr. Shapiro undertook the first major reform of export control efforts in twenty years. During his tenure, he announced the largest U.S. government foreign military sales (FMS) package in history and presided over the processing of a record number of United States Munitions List export licenses. He also managed more than $6 billion in security assistance funds and drove the development of the innovative Global Security Contingency Fund.

Before being confirmed as Assistant Secretary, Mr. Shapiro served as a Senior Advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Prior to joining the State Department with the Secretary, he served from 2001-2009 as Senator Clinton’s Senior Defense and Foreign Policy Advisor.

He also served as a member of the Obama-Biden Department of Defense Agency Review Transition Team before shifting to Secretary of State Clinton’s confirmation and transition team once she was officially named. During the 2000 Presidential Election Campaign, Mr. Shapiro served on the Gore-Lieberman campaign as the Briefing Book Director for Vice Presidential Candidate Joseph I. Lieberman. After Election Day, he served as an attorney with the Gore/Lieberman Recount Committee during the post-election litigation in Florida.

Previously, Mr. Shapiro was counsel to the Justice Department’s International Competition Policy Advisory Committee, and was an associate at the Washington, DC law firm Covington & Burling.

He received a B.A. cum laude with honors distinction in Diplomatic History from the University of Pennsylvania and a joint law/master’s in international affairs degree from Columbia University where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Mr. Shapiro is the recipient of the Department of State’s Distinguished Honor Award, Gold Star Wives of America Appreciation Award, and the National Guard Association’s Patrick Henry Award. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute of Strategic Studies.

Controversial Dealings

Mr Shapiro has been named by arms dealer Marc Turi as the person in charge of a Department of State controversial program to arm rebels fighting against the government of Lybia.^[3] In February 11, 2014 Marc Turi was indicted by the US government for participating in the arms deals arming the rebels (USA v Marc Turi, Arizona District Court Case 2:14-cr-00191).

On October 5, 2016, after Mr. Turi was readying himself for trial with evidence that according to him would involve then–Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton in the botched program, and having previously named then–Assistant Secretary Andrew Shapiro as the contact person authorizing the dealings, the Department of Justice abruptly dropped the charges, and filed a motion to dismiss with prejudice, effectively banning any further revisiting of the case. In addition, the motion to dismiss includes a clause forcing Mr. Turi to enter a confidentiality agreement to keep any disclosures under wraps.^[4]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andrew J. Shapiro.

• Profile of Shapiro at www.whorunsgov.com
• State Department biography of Shapiro
• Beacon Global Strategies LLC
• Defense News Profile of A/S Andrew Shapiro.