The Honorable Mary Beth Long is a foreign policy and security expert with nearly three decades of CIA and defense -related government service, followed by decades of successful commercial and government projects at the highest levels worldwide.
She currently holds Secret/TS clearances (SCI eligible).
Ms. Long’s over 17 years in intelligence and defense includes policy oversight of the U.S. military on every continent, as well as direct involvement in the Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s (DSCA) weapons programs abroad. In her last position under Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, she served as the first woman confirmed to a four-star military equivalent position by the U.S. Senate, as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, and was the senior department representative to the National Security Council (NSC) Deputies Committee. She also was the first female to Chair NATO’s senior-most nuclear and missile defense policy-making body, the High Level Group (HLG), reporting directly to the Secretary General of NATO. After leaving government, Ms. Long became a successful entrepreneur and international advisor.
As of 2024, Ms. Long is involved in international business and serves in several ongoing “Track II” negotiations, including regular meetings with senior counterparts from Russia, India, China, Iran, and with European and Gulf countries (see details below). In the last months she has met with senior decision makers from Turkey, Iran, Israel, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, and several Asian countries. Her international business activities are ongoing in the Middle East, South America, and in Africa. She regularly appears on VOA Korea regarding Indo-PACOM security issues.
Gov’t Service Background: From 2007-2009, Ms. Long “stood in” as senior Defense official for
Secretary of Defense Gates with his counterparts from Israel, the Middle East, Southeast Asia,
Latin American, Europe and NATO. In addition to her Deputies Committee role, she attended
Principals’ meetings with the National Security Advisor and President as substitute or back-up for
the Secretary of Defense when called upon.
While at DoD, Ms. Long held a number of additional senior Office of the Secretary of Defense
(OSD) Policy positions, including
• Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa); in addition, she provided Policy oversight of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and was a member of the Helsinki Commission
• Chair, NATO, High Level Group (NATO’s highest level nuclear body)
• Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, including Asia, SouthEast Asia, Western Hemisphere, and Africa, while overseeing the Prisoners of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA office)
• Principal Deputy Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs for Asia and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Western Hemisphere
• Deputy Secretary of Defense, Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (SOLIC) for Counter Narco-Terrorism. An advocate of pragmatic policy making, she was the architect of many of the DOD programs in Afghanistan and spent considerable time “down range” as the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Counter Narco-terrorism where she was 1responsible for programs with a budget of over $1 billion. She also served as “acting” ASD/SOLIC when called upon
• DOD Awards: Ms. Long received the Department’s highest civilian honors from Secretary of Defense Gates as well as from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Michael Mullen.
CIA: To those credentials, Ms. Long adds more than a decade of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) clandestine operational experience abroad (1986–99) on terrorism, covert action, counter proliferation, border control, counterdrug and other security issues. While at CIA, Ms. Long earned a number of exceptional performance awards and was nominated for the Intelligence Star. A snapshot of her CIA roles can be found in the recently released Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior, by former colleague Ric Prado (St. Martin’s Press 2022).
Ongoing International Negotiations Role: Ms. Long maintains close ties to her international colleagues and is often called-upon by media and experts based on her many post-government roles, including as a
• Senior Subject Matter Expert for the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO
• Senior International Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Colombia
• Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) presiding over meetings regarding NATO, Ukraine, Afghanistan, DOD Weapons Innovation, and briefer on these and other topics
• A regular member of an international Track II European-based team including highest-level talks among Russia, India, France, China, and the U.K
• A regular Track II team sponsored by Turkey (including meetings with President Erdogan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Director of Turkey’s Intelligence Service, and National Security Advisors) (current)
• Advisory meetings with Qatar (including meetings for several years with the Qatari National Security Advisor and Iranian Foreign Minister and his Deputy
• Regular interlocutor with the UAE Presidential Guard and other senior security officials, among others
Legal Experience: After leaving CIA, Ms. Long was a litigation associate at Williams & Connolly PLLP from 1999-2004 where she specialized in civil defense against attorney or insurance malpractice, securities, and compliance claims. Upon departing DOD, Ms. Long renewed her law license and has been a member of the VA Bar in good standing, specializing in International Arms Sales compliance, international trade and business, Emoluments and Defense Export compliance, and business matters.
Entrepreneurial Undertakings. Starting 2010, Ms. Long founded two multi-million-dollar advisory firms upon her departure from Defense, advising several Fortune 500 companies and shepherding a small client in closing over $2 billion in international orders.
• She is the Founder & Principal of M B Long & Associates, PLLC, a legal and international advisory firm
• Founded Askari Defense and Intelligence, LLC, which provided clients with a bespoke open-source, daily digest on security and business issues in English and Arabic
• Was Co-Founder & Principal of Global Alliance Advisors, LLC; a business advisory firm
• Founded and led a government contracting firm – Metis Solutions, LLC – which successfully sold in 2016 to private equity and to PAE in 2020 for $96M. Under her leadership at Metis, the firm grew to over 200 employees and was included in Inc. Magazine’s list of Fastest Growing Companies in America each year from 2013-2016.
Teaching, Boards and Charities. Currently, Ms. Long is on the Board of Directors of AeroVironment, a publicly traded company. She previously served on the board of Red Six International, LLC and Red Cat, LLC.
As for charitable efforts, Ms. Long serves on the She the Board of Directors of the Defense Intelligence Memorial Foundation and the Spy Museum. Ms. Long has also served as a Senior Advisor to Penn State’s University’s School of International Affairs since 2017 where she taught as a Professor of Practice on Intelligence and Foreign Policy from 2021-2022. She currently also serves on the university’s Global Advisory Council.
Ms. Long is an Honors Graduate, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Penn State University, where she studied abroad in Taiwan. She received the university’s highest alumna honors in 2018. Ms. Long received her law degree, with honors, from Washington and Lee School of Law.