Spencer Boyer

Spencer P. Boyer is a Global Fellow with the Wilson Center's Global Europe Program. He is also a Partner in the Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG), leading a new National Security, Defense, and Aerospace practice. ASG, part of Dentons Global Advisors, is a premier global strategic advisory and commercial diplomacy firm, based in Washington, D.C. He has over 25 years of professional experience in the United States and Europe with the US government, international organizations, think tanks, academic institutions, and the private sector. Directly before ASG, he spent the 2024 winter academic term in residence at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he was the Magro Family Distinguished Fellow in International Affairs at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, teaching a course on Russian influence in Europe.

In December 2023, Mr. Boyer completed nearly 3 years of service in the Biden administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy, where was responsible for managing the day-to-day defense relationship between the United States and NATO, the EU, and over 40 European countries. His government service includes senior roles in both terms of the Obama administration. From 2009 – 2011, he was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, where his portfolio included Western Europe, public diplomacy, and public affairs. From 2014 – 2017, he was the National Intelligence Officer (NIO) for Europe in the National Intelligence Council—the center for long-range strategic thinking within the US Intelligence Community. As NIO, he served as the senior European affairs analyst and principal subject matter expert on Europe for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and as the primary bridge between the intelligence and policy communities on European affairs.

Mr. Boyer has been an Adjunct Professor with the BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service since 2013. He has been a Director, Senior Fellow, or Visiting Scholar with numerous think tanks, including the Center for American Progress, the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the Brookings Institution, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. In addition, he was a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School and a Visiting Professor at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. He has been a guest analyst with numerous international, national, and local news outlets, including CNN, BBC, MSNBC, FOX, ABC, and Voice of America, and is widely published on foreign affairs.

Mr. Boyer began his professional career as an Associate with the international law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, he worked in The Hague as a Law Clerk to the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in Zurich as a Staff Attorney at the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland, and in Paris as Counsel at the International Court of Arbitration. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he specialized in public international law and the work of international organizations. While at NYU, he also obtained a master’s degree in French Studies, with a concentration in French politics, history, and economy.