There, he played a role in drafting the Clinton Administration's response to a number of peacekeeping, humanitarian and refugee issues, including U.S. involvement in the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, the deployment of U.S. forces to train peacekeeping forces in West Africa, the resettlement of Kurdish refugees from Northern Iraq, resettlement of Vietnamese boat people, the safe haven effort for Haitian refugees in 1994, and U.S. relief efforts in Central America and Kosovo.

From 2001 to 2003, Schwartz held fellowships at the Woodrow Wilson Center, the United States Institute of Peace, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

At the Council on Foreign Relations, he directed the Independent Task Force on Post-Conflict Iraq, working closely with co-chairs Thomas R. Pickering and James R. Schlesinger.

From October 2011 to June 2017, Schwartz served as the dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

[1] On June 12, 2017, Schwartz became president of Refugees International, leading the organization in its efforts to promote solutions to displacement crises worldwide.