Press Releases
“The Atlantic Council is proud that Secretary of State Pompeo has selected one of our own, J. Peter Pham, to serve in the role of Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, to address the numerous challenges facing the region and represent the United States in negotiations on commercial and diplomatic issues.
For more than seven years, the Atlantic Council has been privileged to have Peter on our team. Peter has produced a great number of cutting edge projects and impressive written work focused on the African continent. It’s difficult to imagine anyone with deeper subject-matter expertise on the challenges faced by Africans or US ties with the countries of the African Great Lakes. No one has greater passion for the people and the opportunities that exist in those relationships. Few, if any, Americans enjoy greater trust and respect among our African partners.
We are delighted that Peter will maintain his role as Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives and Director of our Africa Center. We look forward to supporting him as he takes on this important role at the Department of State.”
Members of the media are invited to direct questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Said Scowcroft Center director Barry Pavel, “We are delighted that both Ambassador Koster and Dr. Binnendijk, two highly distinguished and widely experienced experts, are joining our team to contribute their expertise at such a critical time for the NATO Alliance. We look forward to engaging Ambassador Koster and Dr. Binnendijk across a wide range of strategic issues, particularly as we approach NATO’s seventieth anniversary.”
Hans Binnendijk served until 2012 as vice president for research at the National Defense University and director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies. He served twice on the National Security Council Staff – first as an officer for southern European affairs and later as senior director for defense policy and arms control. In addition to his time on the NSC, Dr. Binnendijk served as deputy director (and acting director) of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, and on Capitol Hill as deputy staff director and legislative director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In academia, Dr. Binnendijk served as director of Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, director of studies at the Institute for International and Strategic Studies in London, and a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies. He also serves as an adjunct political scientist at the RAND Corporation. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 20 books and has written over 200 articles and reports. He received his B.A. in history from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.A.L.D. and his Ph.D. in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Prior to joining the Council and accepting his position as the Netherlands’ ambassador-at-large focusing on security policy and cyber, Ambassador Timo Koster served at NATO headquarters in Brussels for ten years – first as defense adviser at the Netherlands’ Permanent Representation to NATO and then as director for defense policy and capabilities on the NATO International Staff. He has led a distinguished diplomatic career, including posts in Nairobi, London, and Athens, where he served as Deputy Ambassador. Within the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Koster has served in several positions, including project director and private secretary to the Minister for European Affairs. He also served as acting director for European integration in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Ambassador Koster holds a law degree from the University of Amsterdam.
The Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security produces cutting-edge analyses and develops strategies for how the United States can best work with like-minded partners to shape the future. Named in honor of two-time US national security advisor and former Atlantic Council board chairman, Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft, the Center pursues a foreign policy vision grounded in his legacy of American statecraft, built upon a foundation of bipartisanship and cooperation with America’s friends and allies.
For any questions or to request an interview with Dr. Binnendijk or Ambassador Koster, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
WASHINGTON, DC – The Atlantic Council announced today that it will pay tribute to the life and legacy of Senator John McCain by posthumously honoring him with the 2018 Global Citizen Award on September 24. The award will be accepted by Mrs. Cindy McCain.
“Senator McCain lived a remarkable life of service, leadership, and courage – both in uniform and in Congress,” said Atlantic Council CEO and President Frederick Kempe. “The Senator exemplified global citizenship, fighting to defend the freedom, dignity, and human rights of people around the world. We are privileged to present this award to Cindy McCain to salute Senator McCain’s contributions and legacy.”
Mrs. McCain will be introduced by General James L. Jones, Jr. USMC (Ret.), Interim Chairman of the Atlantic Council. Musician Kate Davis will perform during a video tribute.
The Atlantic Council Global Citizen Awards honors those individuals who best exemplify “Global Citizenship” through their unique contributions toward improving the state of the world, and salutes them before an audience of 500 global government, business, and civil society leaders.
Senator McCain will be honored alongside other previously announced 2018 Global Citizen Award honorees: President of the Argentine Republic Mauricio Macri; Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway Erna Solberg; and Hamdi Ulukaya, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Chobani and founder of the Tent Partnership for Refugees.
President Macri will be presented his award by Adrienne Arsht, Executive Vice Chair of the Atlantic Council, and Chairman Emeritas of TotalBank. Prime Minister Solberg will receive her award from Dr. Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum. Mr. Ulukaya will be introduced by The Hon. Samantha Power, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations.
DATE: Monday, September 24, 2018
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION: New York, NY. Details to be provided upon accreditation
This event is on-the-record and open to press. To request accreditation or for additional details, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Sunday, September 23. Location and further timing details will be provided upon confirmation of accreditation.
Follow @AtlanticCouncil and use #ACawards for live updates throughout the evening.
WASHINGTON, DC – The Atlantic Council announced today that Dr. Miyeon Oh has been named the first director of the Asia Security Initiative within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
Dr. Oh was previously a senior fellow in the Scowcroft Center. In her new role, Dr. Oh will oversee the Asia Security Initiative’s expanded scope to foster trans-Atlantic-Pacific partnerships that can adapt, revitalize, and defend the rules-based international order in Asia.
“Miyeon has grown the Atlantic Council’s Asia efforts by leaps and bounds through her tireless dedication and strategic leadership,” said Frederick Kempe, CEO and President of the Atlantic Council. “The Trans-Atlantic-Pacific relationship is more important than ever before due to regional security sector shifts of global consequence. This appointment demonstrates the Atlantic Council’s commitment to addressing a host of emerging challenges.”
The Asia Security Initiative develops purposeful programming to address both traditional and non-traditional security issues. As transformations in the region’s political-economic architecture lead to increasing great power competition, traditional issues—such as the North Korean challenge and US-China tensions—will remain central to any discussion of Asia-Pacific regional security. At the same time, emerging strategic challenges demand greater agility and innovation from policymakers, as resource scarcity issues related to food, water, and energy rise in importance, and old paradigms are upended by disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, robotics, and biotechnology.
The Asia Security Initiative’s model of active partnership has been most visible in its relationship with the Republic of Korea, as it aims to unite experts and policymakers from the United States and the Republic of Korea to develop a forward-looking vision for the US-ROK security alliance and economic partnership. The Asia Security Initiative, along with the Korea Foundation, hosted in 2017 the inaugural Atlantic Council-Korea Foundation Forum with then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to explore how the US-ROK relationship fits into the administration’s emerging strategy toward the Asia Pacific. The Asia Security Initiative is also launching this year a journalist fellowship program with the Korea Foundation, which will host American journalists interested in learning about Korea, and will include private roundtables and a trip to Korea.
“We are thrilled that Dr. Oh has been promoted to be the director of our rapidly growing Asia Security Initiative,” said Barry Pavel, Senior Vice President, and director, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. “She has already demonstrated extraordinary leadership and a laser-like focus on impact in her relatively short tenure as a senior fellow, and this bodes enormously well for the Scowcroft Center’s intensifying efforts under her leadership to help advance US relations with our most important Indo-Pacific allies and partners.”
“I am honored to be named as the director of the Asia Security Initiative and to further develop my career with the Atlantic Council, one of the most vibrant and impactful think tanks in international affairs,” Oh said. “It has been rewarding to promote mutual understanding between the United States and its allies and partners, and to fill policy gaps where there exist different approaches. I am fortunate to be a part of this evolution of policy in the face of pressing global challenges.”
Dr. Miyeon Oh is also a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where she received her PhD. She has been selected as the 2017 Strategy and Policy fellow by the Smith Richardson Foundation and was a foreign policy pre-doctoral research fellow at the Brookings Institution. In addition, Dr. Oh has a significant background in public policy and international affairs with two master’s degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Yonsei University in Korea, as well as public sector experience with the United Nations and Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
For more information, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 202.778.4993.
All three distinguished honorees will attend and speak at the event.
“At this period of rapid global change and uncertainty, these awards send a particular message regarding the brand of consistent, principled and purposeful leadership that our times require,” said Frederick Kempe, Atlantic Council President and CEO. “Through these awards, we have tried not only to salute unique individuals such as these three leaders, but in doing so also inspire others to be better global citizens.”
The Atlantic Council salutes President Macri for his tireless and uncompromising dedication to his country and people through his pragmatic approach to policy, commitment to economic reform and revitalization, and renewal of relations with international partners exemplified by Argentina’s current presidency of the G20.
It honors Prime Minister Solberg for her exemplary contributions to her nation and the global community, demonstrated through her dedication to ocean conservation and sustainable environmental policies, as well as improved quality and access to education around the world. We will also celebrate the strong US-Norway bilateral relationship.
The Atlantic Council will also honor Hamdi Ulukaya for his inspirational achievements as a business leader, and his devotion and commitment to improving the livelihoods of refugees. Through the establishment of the Tent Partnership for Refugees, Ulukaya is raising awareness of the ongoing refugee crisis and working to positively impact the lives of millions.
The Atlantic Council Global Citizen Awards, their ninth edition, honors those individuals who best exemplify “Global Citizenship” through their unique contributions toward improving the state of the world, and salutes them before an audience of 500 global government, business, and civil society leaders.
Past honorees have included US Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in, Bono, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
DATE: Monday, September 24
TIME: 7 p.m. EST (based on tentative run of show)
LOCATION: New York, NY. Details to be provided upon accreditation
This event is on-the-record and open to press. To request accreditation or for additional details, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday, September 21. Location and further timing details will be provided upon confirmation of accreditation.
Follow @AtlanticCouncil and use #ACAwards for live updates throughout the evening.
The two-day premier event gathers international and regional political, industry, and thought leaders to set the global energy agenda for the year and examine the longer-term geopolitical and geo-economic implications of the changing energy system. The conference agenda this year will focus on the future of oil, the digitization of energy, diversification in energy companies and countries, and will have a regional focus on East Asian energy demand and energy innovation. Last year’s event brought over 450 people to Abu Dhabi from around the world, including CEOs, Ministers, global media, and industry experts.
The forum will once again be hosted under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. It will be convened in partnership with the Ministry of Energy & Industry of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Mubadala Investment Company, and is part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
H.E. Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy & Industry, United Arab Emirates, said:
“The Global Energy Forum looks at the importance of all forms of energy: nuclear, oil, gas, renewable, and others. The diversity among its subjects and experts is what makes the Forum an important part of the energy calendar.”
Frederick Kempe, President and CEO of the Atlantic Council, said:
“Abu Dhabi is a leader in the international global energy sector through its foresight, innovation, and strategic planning, and has become a magnet for policymakers, experts and business leaders. The Atlantic Council’s 2019 Global Energy Forum will bring together these crucial actors from across the globe to set the energy agenda for 2019.”
Randolph Bell, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, said:
“With our focus on East Asian energy demand and innovation in 2019, the Global Energy Forum plans to highlight how the region’s global energy partnerships – particularly with the Gulf -- and race for new energy technologies will fundamentally reshape the energy system and geopolitical order of the 21st century. By encouraging forward-looking discussion between policymakers and business leaders, the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum aims to maximize the opportunities emerging from the sweeping changes to the global energy mix, and shape outcomes that leaves us all more secure and prosperous.”
For more information on the Global Energy Forum, please visit our website www.acenergyforum.org or contact Travis Horne at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
WASHINGTON, DC – Días después de la XIII Cumbre Presidencial de la Alianza del Pacífico en México, el Centro para América Latina Adrienne Arsht del Atlantic Council da inicio hoy a un nuevo esfuerzo que avanzará la convergencia de la Alianza del Pacífico-Mercosur y estudiará sus efectos indirectos a medida que la región marca el comienzo de una nueva ola de comercio e inversión entre Asia y América Latina en medio de la incertidumbre comercial global.
El esfuerzo de un año del Centro -que involucrará a legisladores de Mercosur y la Alianza del Pacífico, representantes del sector privado y los medios de comunicación- examinará los efectos de la convergencia de los instrumentos de política relacionados con: el comercio de servicios; inversiones extranjeras; apoyo a pequeñas y medianas empresas; contratación pública del Gobierno; acumulación diagonal de reglas de origen; y armonización de estándares y regulaciones. El proyecto es posible a través de la membresía de la Agencia Brasileña de Promoción de Comercio e Inversión en el Atlantic Council.
WASHINGTON, DC – With Latin American leaders having recently wrapped up the 13th Presidential Summit of the Pacific Alliance in Mexico, the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center today kicks off a new effort that will advance pathways for Mercosur-Pacific Alliance convergence and outline spillover effects as the region ushers in a new wave of Asia-Latin America trade and investment amid global commercial uncertainty.
The Center’s year-long effort—that will involve Mercosur and Pacific Alliance policymakers, private-sector representatives and the media—will examine the effects of convergence of policy instruments related to: trade in services; foreign investments; support for small and medium-sized enterprises; government procurement; diagonal cumulation of rules of origin; and harmonization of standards and regulations. The project is possible through the Atlantic Council membership of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency.
The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) has operationalized the study of disinformation by exposing falsehoods and fake news, documenting human rights abuses, and building digital resilience worldwide. It is known for its work on Ukraine, Syria, elections and disinformation, as well as its recent partnership with Facebook to independently monitor disinformation and other vulnerabilities in elections around the world.. The team is currently leading the 360/OS Summit in Berlin, a live session bringing journalists, activists, business professionals, and policymakers together to harness the power of open source, social media, and digital forensic research.
“Every day, Graham and the DFR Lab team are leading a fight for truth, freedom, and democracy in the digital space, uncovering facts in the era of fake news and rampant disinformation,” said Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe. “Through their grassroots efforts, they are contributing to the crucially important effort to build more resilient societies and counter the efforts of those who exploit our open societies and the technologies to divide rather than unite.”
"The team at the DFRLab is at the forefront of security, democracy, technology, and where each intersects,” said Brookie. “I am grateful for the opportunity to lead and work with an amazing team taking action on some of the most difficult collective problems we face.”
Graham Brookie joined the Council in May 2017 as managing editor of the Digital Forensic Research Lab. Before, he served in various positions at the White House and National Security Council. His most recent role was as an adviser for strategic communications with a focus on digital strategy, and audience engagement. Previously he served as the adviser to the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, the president’s top aide for cybersecurity, counterterrorism, intelligence, and homeland security issues. He also worked in the East Asia, Middle East, and North Africa directorates at the National Security Council.
For more information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
