Mr Paul Fritch

Paul Fritch is an expert in European and Eurasian security, multilateral diplomacy, arms control, and democratic institution-building. A former career member of the United States Foreign Service, he has held senior executive positions at NATO, where he was instrumental in the creation of the NATO-Russia Council and the official launch of a NATO membership dialogue with Ukraine, as well as at the OSCE, where he spearheaded a number of strategic dialogue and organizational restructuring efforts. He also led the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) efforts to create a high-level working group on the remediation of legacy uranium sites in Ukraine and Central Asia (2012-13). As a U.S. diplomat, he has served at U.S. embassies in Bonn, Germany, and Moscow, Russia, and in a number of national security policy positions in Washington, most recently coordinating the State Department's input into the 2021 Global Posture Review, 2022 National Defense Strategy, and 2022 National Military Strategy. Paul is a four-time recipient of the State Department's Superior Honor Award. He was recognized as the Department's 2006 Linguist of the Year, received the Department’s Career Achievement Award in 2025, and was awarded a Presidential Medal from the Republic of Kazakhstan for his role in spearheading the 2010 Astana OSCE Summit. He holds a bachelor's degree in international relations from Georgetown University and a master's in national security resource management from the National Defense University.