Nicholas Spyridon Kass is Senior Fellow for European Affairs at the Center for the National Interest. He served in the U.S. Government for 31 years, retiring on January 20, 2021. Most recently he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Director for European Affairs (twice) and Director for Intelligence Programs at the White House/National Security Council, and Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Europe at the National Intelligence Council. A Turkish and Kurdish speaker, for many years he was at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey. He also served at the Central Intelligence Agency, including as Intelligence Briefer to the Director of Central Intelligence, and was awarded for unique contributions to the CIA HUMINT mission. Now in the private sector, he is Executive Director for International Corporate Affairs at the Nawaf Salameh Family Office, headquartered near Bucharest, Romania. He can be found on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn.