General Sir Rupert Smith KCB DSO OBE QGM is a senior international authority on defence, security, strategy and conflict resolution. A former NATO Deputy Supreme Commander Allied Powers Europe (DSACEUR), he has extensive expertise in multinational and multilateral issues and organizations, alongside advising governments, industry and policy makers on defence and security strategies. He has served as military advisor to a major conflict resolution NGO, and as a member of the Strategic Advice Panel to the UK Chief of Defence. He was the military member of the UK National Security Forum advising the Prime Minister and the Cabinet between 2008-2010.
Rupert Smith has deep and wide ranging global operational leadership experience based upon a 40 year career in the UK military. He commanded operations in the Balkans, leading both UN and NATO forces, and in Northern Ireland and the 1991 Gulf War. He served in East and South Africa, Arabia, the Caribbean, Europe, and Malaysia. Throughout his service he worked with global allies and laid emphasis on inter-cultural and international understanding and exchange. He has lectured widely at universities, military and defence academies and industrial forums around the world. He is a Visiting Professor at Reading University, a Fellow of Kings College London and adjunct Professor at SciencesPo Paris.
Rupert Smith was educated in the UK at Haileybury & ISC and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He graduated from the army Staff College, and was later Deputy Commandant of the college.