Michael Lekson
Vice President for International Programs, Education and
Training Center/International
Latin America | Europe | Multilateral Diplomacy | NATO and OSCE | Arms
Control | Confidence- and Security-Building Measures | Conflict Management
Phone: (202) 429-4149
E-mail: mlekson@usip.org
Languages: Spanish
Michael Lekson joined the Institute’s Professional Training program in 2003 as a program
officer. He came to the Institute following a 26-year career in the Department of State, where he
was deputy assistant secretary of state for arms control, overseeing all multilateral arms control
negotiations and treaty implementation, for which he received the secretary’s Distinguished Service
Award. Prior to that, Lekson was deputy to the special representative of the president and the
secretary of state for implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords. Lekson was also director of the
Office of European Security and Political Affairs, where he helped develop and implement policies
to adapt NATO to the post-Cold War world, and of the Office of United Kingdom, Benelux, and Ireland
Affairs, where he worked intensively on the Northern Ireland peace process.
During his
Foreign Service career, Lekson served as a consular officer in Bilbao, Spain, and as a political
officer in U.S. embassies in Costa Rica, Peru and the United Kingdom. He was deputy U.S.
representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe during the OSCE’s
augmentation of its democracy building, conflict prevention, and conflict management efforts in
formerly communist countries, especially in the Balkans and Central Asia. Prior to joining the
Department of State, he served two years in the U.S. Army as a field artillery officer.
Lekson has a B.A. in English from Princeton University and a master’s in linguistics from Stanford
University.
Publications: