Matthew Spence

Matthew Spence is an American lawyer, international relations scholar, and former senior defense official currently serving as Managing Director of Guggenheim Partners, focusing on issues related to security and technology.

Education Spence holds a BA and MA in international policy studies from Stanford University, a JD from Yale Law School, and a DPhil in international relations from the University of Oxford.

Career Spence clerked for Judge Richard Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was a Future Security Fellow at New America.

Spence co-founded the Truman National Security Project with international relations scholar Rachel Kleinfeld in 2004.

From 2009 to 2012, Spence was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Economic Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council. He was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy from 2012 to 2015 during the Obama administration.

In a January 2016 interview with Politico, Spence noted that “Egypt was one of the most significant policy divides between the White House and the State Department and the Department of Defense.”

Publications

Articles

The National Security Case for Lab-Grown and Plant-Based Meat, Slate, December 29, 2021 I was a closeted Christian at the Pentagon, Washington Post, April 8, 2016 On Syria, the U.S. should take cues from Beijing, not Moscow, Washington Post, October 29, 2015