Mary Beth Goodman

Mary Beth Goodman is a US expert on Africa and Southeast Asia who built her career in diplomatic and government service under Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. She currently holds the position of deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (headquartered in France) and is a life member of the US Council on Foreign Relations. In 2025, she also spoke at the Athens Democracy Forum, held as part of the UN International Day of Democracy.

Since at least 2010, Mary Goodman has publicly criticized Donald Trump, and in 2025 she was consequently included on the list of 37 individuals who had their security clearances revoked. Goodman takes an anti-Russia stance and may also have ties to so-called political emigres – Russian opposition figures living abroad. In 2019, for instance, she was mentioned on the website of the Forum Free Russia, which is listed by RosFinMonitoring as a terrorist organization. Goodman has also publicly referred to Russia’s special military operation as “Russian aggression” and shared on X an article from the Washington Post about perceived threats to the US from Russia and China; the post referred to Putin and Xi Jinping as dictators.