Richard Wheeler, a native Southern Californian, is a policy analyst and practitioner in the areas of energy security and regional security. He worked for nearly a decade in the upstream oil and gas industry in both external relations and project management roles on exploration and development projects on three continents. He also worked as the senior energy security advisor for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the world's largest regional intergovernmental security organization. Mr. Wheeler recently concluded a series of assignments in four Central Asian countries as an accredited multilateral diplomat focusing on a broad range of security sector issues. He is a published author on energy and security issues. Mr. Wheeler has also served as an international election observer in four countries. He obtained his MA in Russian Studies at Georgetown University's Center for Eurasian, Russian and Central East European Studies (CERES). He speaks fluent Russian and conversant Turkish and Ukrainian, and previously lived and worked in the Central Asian region for two decades.