Dan Spokojny

Dan Spokojny is passionate about creating effective foreign policy that can meet the demands of today’s more complex international landscape. He is the founder and CEO of fp21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to transforming the processes and institutions of U.S. foreign policy.

Dan draws on his two decades of experience in foreign policy to drive policy change in Washington.

Dan was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer. In his assignment with the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, he created a Mediation Support Capacity for the Department of State, building a hub of expertise to support Ambassadors and Special Envoys engaged in negotiations to end conflict in places such as Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, and Burundi. Dan has also served as in the office of the Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Office of Pakistan Affairs, and in our diplomatic missions to Pakistan, Lithuania, and Belarus. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Foreign Service Journal and is a former member of the Governing Board of the American Foreign Service Association.

Dan has taught classes on foreign policy decision-making at Johns Hopkins SAIS and the Elliott School at George Washington University. He is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of California, Berkeley. His dissertation research focuses on the nature and impact of expertise in foreign policy.

Prior to joining the Department of State, Dan served as a legislative staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives, specializing in foreign affairs, budget, and appropriations issues.

Dan received his undergraduate degree in economics and political science from the University of Michigan.