On January 6, the International Security Program hosted a roundtable on “Russia Reset and Strategic Reassurance: The View from Tallinn” with U.S. Ambassador to Estonia Michael C. Polt. This off-the-record roundtable is part of the Council’s Transatlantic Initiative on Nordic-Baltic Security which seeks to generate policy relevant ideas on how to further strengthen Nordic-Baltic security, as well as how the region can play a larger role in transatlantic and global security.

Ambassador Polt was sworn in as the U.S. ambassador to Estonia in late 2009. Before taking up his current post, he served as the Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs. From 2004 to 2007 he served as the U.S. ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro. A career foreign service officer, Ambassador Polt has also served in U.S. embassies in Germany, Panama, Denmark, Mexico, and Switzerland. He has also held several positions within the State Department in Washington, including as Deputy Director for European Security and Arms Control.