Home2021 Certificates of Competency for Nominees to be Chiefs of Mission ...Carpenter, Michael Randell – Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – July 2021 hide Carpenter, Michael Randell – Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – July 2021 Certificate of Competency July 15, 2021 REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4) POST: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) CANDIDATE: Michael Randell Carpenter Michael Carpenter is the Managing Director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania. His career has focused on Europe and Eurasia, where he has developed expertise on security and defense issues, conflict prevention and mediation, and the promotion of democratic institutions and human rights. Mr. Carpenter has extensive experience working with the OSCE: as an election monitor, as an advisor to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and as the senior Pentagon official responsible for conventional arms control. Mr. Carpenter is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, and was Special Advisor for Europe and Eurasia in the Office of the Vice President. He also served as Director for Russia in the National Security Council. Mr. Carpenter’s broad and substantive engagement in, and knowledge of, European and Eurasian affairs, and his demonstrated ability to manage complex and sensitive policy issues, make him an excellent candidate to be the Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with rank of Ambassador. A former Foreign Service officer, Mr. Carpenter served in the Department of State as Deputy Director of the Office of Russian Affairs, Special Assistant for the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Political-Military officer in the Office of European Security and Political Affairs, and Advisor on Regional Conflicts in the Office of Caucasus Affairs and Regional Conflicts. He earned a B.A. at Stanford University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. He has received numerous professional distinctions, including the Jamestown Foundation Distinguished Service Award and fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the International Research & Exchanges Board. He speaks Polish, Slovenian, Czech, French and German.
