Aaron Wess Mitchell (born April 1, 1977) is an American foreign policy expert and former diplomat who was the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from October 2017 until February 2019.

At CEPA, the bulk of Mitchell's reports and articles advanced the argument that the United States should increase its diplomatic and military engagement with allies in Central and Eastern Europe and East Asia that could otherwise fall under Russian or Chinese influence.

[7][8][9] Mitchell was among the earliest proponents of placing U.S. and NATO military personnel in Poland and the Baltic States in the aftermath of the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.

[3] As Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Mitchell was responsible for diplomatic relations with the 50 countries of Europe and Eurasia, as well as the institutions of NATO, the EU, and OSCE.

[20][21] In an August 2018 testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Mitchell stated: "Russia and China are serious competitors that are building up the material and ideological wherewithal to contest U.S. primacy and leadership in the 21st Century.

It continues to be among the foremost national security interests of the United States to prevent the domination of the Eurasian landmass by hostile powers.

[2] Mitchell currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Center for European Policy Analysis, as Senior Advisor at the Office of Strategic Stability and Security at the United States Institute of Peace, as a Non-Resident Fellow in the Applied History Project at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and as a member of the international advisory board for Cambridge University's Centre for Geopolitics.

[44] An article in The Wall Street Journal about the Habsburg Empire that Mitchell co-authored with Purdue University historian Charles Ingrao received the Stanton Prize for using applied history to illuminate contemporary challenges.

[46][47][48][49] The book argues that rising and revisionist powers, Russia and China, are "probing" the periphery of the U.S.-led international order by placing pressure on U.S. allies, and that the United States should strengthen its alliances as a way of achieving strategic stability.