We are pleased to welcome Frances Burwell and Amb. David B. Shear to our team at McLarty Associates, who will add to our strong footprint in the EU and in Southeast Asia respectively.

Dr. Frances Burwell will join as a Senior Advisor in our Europe & Eurasia practice and will advise clients on the European Union and US-EU relations. From 2008 to 2016, Dr. Burwell served as the Atlantic Council’s Vice President for European Union and Special Initiatives and as Director of Transatlantic Programs and Studies. Dr. Burwell was also a leading initiator and organizer of the Wroclaw Global Forum in Poland, the Council’s flagship European conference. She is currently a Distinguished Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative. Dr. Burwell’s research has focused on the digital economy and privacy, US-EU trade and investment, US-EU security cooperation, and EU institutions and processes.

Amb. David B. Shear will also join as a Senior Advisor in our Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asia practices. He previously served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs from 2014 to 2016, when he performed the duties of Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Prior to 2014, Ambassador Shear served for 32 years in the US Foreign Service, most recently as the US Ambassador to Vietnam. He has also served in Sapporo, Beijing, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur. Ambassador Shear was a Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy from 1998-1999 and is the recipient of the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and the Defense Department’s Civilian Meritorious Service Award for his work in US-Japan defense relations.