The Honorable Andrew Shapiro is a Founder and Managing Director of Beacon Global Strategies LLC.
Mr. Shapiro has been a national security leader for over twenty years, with experience at the Department of State, Congress, and in the Department of Justice. Mr. Shapiro has overseen major U.S. policy decisions and served as an advisor to senior officials on U.S. foreign policy and national security matters. As a Managing Director, Mr. Shapiro advises clients in the areas of aerospace, defense, geopolitical risk, finance, energy and public affairs.
From 2009-2013, Mr. Shapiro served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs where he revitalized and deepened political-military partnerships at home and abroad, and promoted record setting foreign military sales creating thousands of jobs in the United States while contributing to the security of key U.S. partners. As the longest serving Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Mr. Shapiro managed our security relationships with partners in the Middle East, identifying opportunities for improved relations with some partners while reducing risks when they arose. He deepened U.S. political-military talks with India and Brazil and made key contributions to the U.S. pivot to Asia by leading an increase in military sales and transfers to U.S. partners including Taiwan, Japan, and Indonesia.
Before being confirmed as Assistant Secretary, Mr. Shapiro served as a Senior Advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Prior to joining the State Department with the Secretary, he served from 2001-2009 as Senator Clinton’s Senior Defense and Foreign Policy Advisor.
He also served as a member of the Obama-Biden Department of Defense Agency Review Transition Team before shifting to Secretary of State Clinton’s confirmation and transition team once she was officially named. During the 2000 Presidential Election Campaign, Mr. Shapiro served on the Gore-Lieberman campaign as the Briefing Book Director for Vice Presidential Candidate Joseph I. Lieberman. After Election Day, he served as an attorney with the Gore/Lieberman Recount Committee during the post-election litigation in Florida.
Previously, Mr. Shapiro was counsel to the Justice Department’s International Competition Policy Advisory Committee, and was an associate at the Washington, DC law firm Covington & Burling.
He received a B.A. cum laude with honors distinction in Diplomatic History from the University of Pennsylvania and a joint law/master’s in international affairs degree from Columbia University where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.
Mr. Shapiro is the recipient of the Department of State’s Distinguished Honor Award, Gold Star Wives of America Appreciation Award, and the National Guard Association’s Patrick Henry Award. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute of Strategic Studies. He also serves on the New Leadership Council of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA).
