Sir Paul Lever KCMG is Vice-President of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies Council and on the advisory board of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. He retired from the British Diplomatic Service in 2003 as British Ambassador to Germany. His previous postings included Head of Security Policy Department and Assistant Under Secretary for Defence at the Foreign Office; Leader of the British Delegation to the Negotiations on Conventional Forces in Europe in Vienna; Head of the Defence and Overseas Secretariat in the Cabinet Office; and Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.