VolkerKurt

Ambassador Kurt Volker

Kurt is the Advisory Board Co-Chair and works with BGR's International and Trade Practice.

Location
Washington, D.C.
Position
Advisory Board Member
EXPERTISE
Former Senior U.S. Diplomat with deep experience and relationships at the top levels of the U.S. European and Eurasian diplomatic and policy communities
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
U.S. Ambassador to NATO, US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, Executive Director of ASU McCain Institute, senior roles at State Department, National Security Council, and several for-profit and non-profit boards
Phone
(202) 333-4936
Email
advisoryboard@bgrdc.com
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Ambassador Kurt Volker provides strategic advice to BGR on a full range of international issues and serves as a member of BGR’s advisory board. Drawing on over 35 years of experience in a variety of government, academic and private sector capacities, Ambassador Volker helps BGR clients develop and execute strategies to achieve success in key foreign markets, and to navigate the complex business, government, think tank, media and public policy environment in Washington.

A former career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, he worked in official capacities for over 25 years under six presidential administrations. He served as U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations from 2017-2019, and U.S. Ambassador to NATO in 2008-2009.  He was Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs for an extended period in 2008.  Other Foreign Service assignments include working with Senator John McCain and the Secretary General of NATO.

From 2012-2019, Ambassador Volker was the founding Executive Director of The McCain Institute for International Leadership, a part of Arizona State University based in Washington, D.C.

Ambassador Volker contributes regularly to public policy debates, with columns published at the Center for European Policy Analysis, and frequent appearances on BBC, Fox News, CNN, Newsmax, Newsnation, and Sky News.  His articles are published in such publications as the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, La Repubblica, Tagesspiegel, the Kyiv Post, EU Observer, and the American Interest, among others.

Ambassador Volker has a B.A. from Temple University and an M.A. in International Relations from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He has studied in Sweden and France and speaks Hungarian, Swedish, French, some Spanish, and is learning Georgian.

He is available for speaking engagements through Chartwell Speakers, LTD.

 
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Areas of Focus

  • GEOPOLITICS OF ENERGY AND OTHER STRATEGIC INDUSTRIES
  • UNDERSTANDING US FOREIGN AND NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY
  • EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN POLICY AND DIPLOMACY
  • NATO AND EU POLICY AND ACTIVITY

Education

  • Temple University

    B.A., International Affairs

  • The George Washington University

    M.A., Elliott School - International Affairs

  • Affiliations

    Distinguished Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis; Senior Advisor to the Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center; co-Chair of the American University of Kyiv; Trustee of the American College of the Mediterranean in Aix-en-Provence, France; Member of the Board of Directors of Ukrainian American House; Trustee of the Hungary Foundation; Member of the GLOBSEC International Advisory Board; Member of the International Advisory Board of the U.S. Institute for Peace; Member of the GW University Elliott School Board of Advisors.