Jamestown Welcomes New Board Member, Matthew Bryza

Matthew Bryza Joins Jamestown Board

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Matthew Czekaj
[email protected]
202.483.8888

 

The Jamestown Foundation is proud to announce the addition of Ambassador Matthew Bryza to the Jamestown board. Bryza played a key role in shaping U.S. policies in the South Caucasus region for almost two decades as a senior American diplomat. Often described as the U.S. “point man” on the South Caucasus, Bryza is a relentless champion of an activist American foreign policy in a region of extreme importance to U.S. national security interests. Jamestown President Glen E. Howard noted that the addition of Bryza to the Jamestown board is a natural fit to help guide Jamestown’s research and analysis of events in Eurasia. Jamestown board member and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Michael V. Hayden stated that: “Matt Bryza brings the right blend of scholarship, experience, and integrity to the Jamestown Board. He will be a great addition to further Jamestown’s important work.”

Bryza just completed a 23-year career as a U.S. diplomat, over half of which was spent at the center of policy-making and international negotiations on major energy infrastructure projects and regional conflicts in Eurasia. His most recent assignment was as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan from February 2011 to January 2012.

Between 2005 and 2009, Bryza served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, with responsibility for Eurasian Energy, the South Caucasus, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus. Bryza simultaneously served as the U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE’s Minsk Group mediating the Karabakh conflict, and as U.S. mediator of the Cyprus, South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts.

From 2001 to 2005, Bryza served in the White House as Director for European and Eurasian Affairs on the National Security Council Staff. His responsibilities included Eurasian energy, the South Caucasus, Central Asia and political Islam in Eurasia.

Previous assignments include Deputy to the Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Caspian Energy, Advisor on Economic Reform in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, and Russia Desk Officer at the State Department, as well as Political Officer at the U.S. Missions to Russia (1995-97) and Poland (1989-91).

Currently Ambassador Bryza resides in Istanbul, Turkey, where he also works as a consultant on business and democratic development and is a board member of several private companies. He is also the Director of the International Centre for Defence Studies in Tallinn, Estonia.

Founded in 1984, The Jamestown Foundation is an independent, non-partisan research institution dedicated to providing timely information concerning critical political and strategic developments in China, Russia, Eurasia and the world of terrorism. Jamestown produces three periodic publications: Eurasia Daily Monitor, Terrorism Monitor and China Brief. Jamestown research and analysis is available to the public free-of-charge via Jamestown's website, www.jamestown.org.

---