Hanscom Smith

Hanscom Smith is a Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs, a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a retired Department of State Foreign Service Officer. During his 32-year career in government, he served as consul general in Hong Kong and Shanghai, as acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia, and in various positions at the United States embassies in Yaounde, Copenhagen, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Kabul, and Beijing. He was also team leader at the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team in Muthanna Province, Iraq. In addition, Hanscom worked at the American Institute in Taiwan’s Taipei office. Hanscom was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in Japan. His foreign languages are French, Danish, Khmer, and Mandarin Chinese. Hanscom holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, a certificate in political studies from Sciences Po Paris, and master’s degrees from the London School of Economics and Princeton University.