A specialist in national security issues and arms control, Ries worked as the Director of the Office of United Nations Political Affairs from 2001 to 2003, and then served as the Chief of Mission in
Pristina,
Kosovo from 2003 to 2004. She left Albania in 2007 to become the Minister-Counselor for Political-Military Affairs in
Iraq. Upon returning to
Washington, D.C., she became the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs at the
U.S. Department of State, and then went on to serve as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear and Strategic Policy. ==Life==