​Dan Smith was the Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). He has researched and written on security, conflict and peace for four decades. He served four years in the UN Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group, two as Chair (2010–2011). He was part-time Professor of Peace and Conflict at the University of Manchester from 2014 to 2017. Before joining SIPRI, he was Secretary General of the London-based peacebuilding NGO, International Alert (2003–2015) and Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (1993–2001). His most recent book is the 10th edition of The State of the World Atlas (2020).​