Raymond F. Smith worked for the State Department for several decades, primarily doing political analysis, before retiring with the rank of minister counselor in the Senior Foreign Service. He held two of the most significant analytical jobs in the State Department: minister counselor for political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and director of the Office of Russian, Central Asian, Caucasus, and Eastern European Affairs, Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He is the author of Negotiating with the Soviets(Indiana University Press, 1989). He lives in Dallas, Texas.