Steven Pifer is a senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe and director of the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative at the Brookings Institution. He focuses on arms control, Ukraine, and Russia. He frequently comments on these issues in the media, and his articles have run in the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, National Interest, Kyiv Post, and Moscow Times, among others. He is a co-author of The Opportunity: Next Steps in Reducing Nuclear Arms (Brookings Institution Press, 2012).

A retired Foreign Service officer, his more than 25 years with the State Department included assignments as deputy assistant secretary of state with responsibilities for Russia and Ukraine (2001-2004), U.S. ambassador to Ukraine (1998-2000), and special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia on the National Security Council (1996-1997). He also served in Warsaw, Geneva, Moscow, and London.